One Winged Angel
by nusubito
Summary: By day, Kairi is a normal 15 year old. By night, she is a killer under the command of an assassin. What happens when she is sent to an all guys boarding school to investigate a lethal killer? And j who was that winged assassin she fought? [DISCONTINUED]
1. Kairi's New Adversary

Me: Hi there, and welcome to Chapter One of my fan-fiction, One-Winged Angel.

Sora: Aren't you gonna put the disclaimer?

Me: Oh, fine...I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square-Enix or Final Fantasy. I should, though.

Sora: There, that's better. Now I have my freedom!

:escapes from evil clutches:

Me: I do, on the other hand, own all of my own characters.

:gets own characters to attack Sora:

Sora: Dag nam it ¬¬

* * *

Kairi walked through the front gate and made her way down the path, steadily approaching the large house. She stood in front of the locked door and began punching in the security code for the combination door lock. As she did, there was a whirring noise, followed by a mechanical click, and then the door sprung open. She cautiously entered the building, shutting the door behind her. 

"Guys…?" she said quietly. "…I'm home…"

There was no reply; the house was too quiet. Silently, she began to creep down the hallway. Suddenly, Kairi heard a subdued rustling and quickly spun around -- just in time to see a figure drop down from the ceiling and throw a handful of sharp objects at her.

Before she even had time to think, Kairi ducked to the side with lightning-fast reflexes, and then heard a dull thud as a metal shuriken embedded itself in the wall behind her. Not hesitating for a second, she whipped her hands up over her face and caught the deadly throwing stars in between her fingers as they rocketed towards her. She swiftly swung her leg up, and knocked the remaining shuriken out of the air with her foot.

There was a pause, and then Kairi let go of the shuriken she'd caught and gave a sigh of relief.

"Afternoon, Yuffie." she sighed, as a raven-haired girl walked over to her, nodding thoughtfully.

"Not bad, not bad!" she said approvingly. "That's a 9 out of 10. I'm very impressed…but the first shuriken hit."

Kairi touched her left cheek, and then looked at her fingers. There was blood on her fingers and, true to Yuffie's word, a cut on her face.

"It's only a graze." she shrugged, seeing Kairi frown. She went into the medicine cabinet and threw Kairi a bottle of antiseptic spray and a cloth. Kairi squirted some of the liquid onto the white cloth and dabbed it onto her cheek, wincing slightly as the antiseptic stung the wound and flared like wild fire. Yuffie walked around her and wrenched the small, silver ninja star out of the wall.

"Where're the others?" Kairi asked, holding the cloth to her face.

"In the lounge," she replied, picking up the scattered shuriken and frowning as she examined one with a crooked point. "Keiko's got a job for you."

_Great!_ Thought Kairi. _Finally, another assignment!_

Kairi wasn't a normal 15 year old. Well, by day, she was. She went to a normal school. She had normal friends. She wore normal clothes. She talked about normal things. On average, she was a normal girl. But…by night, she was a killer. She would regularly slip out in the dead of the night with her comrades and dispatch dangerous criminals and gangsters.

Obviously, she and her partners killed stealthily, as not to alert police attention. Kairi enjoyed having the ability to roam the city and clear the streets of violent drug-dealers and rapists. She absolutely detested rapists. She took pleasure in watching the look of mingled horror and anger cross their faces as they realised they were being killed by a teenage girl.

There was no denying the fact that Kairi was a merciless killer -- and a highly trained professional at that -- but what totally set her apart from the murdering drug addicts she dispatched was one, small fact. She didn't kill for pleasure. She killed for honour.

Kairi walked into the large, warm-coloured lounge and looked around. It seemed like all of her friends were already there.

Sitting in the armchair in the corner was Masami, with long, wavy brown hair. Sprawled out on the settee was 14 year old Yuki, playing the PS2 game _Tenchu _with her friend Hotaru, who was sat on the floor below her. Rikku and Tifa, however, seemed to be sparring in the large, open area beside the bay windows. Keiko was standing by the fireplace, the roaring flames illuminating her deep fuchsia hair. She was totally engrossed in watching Tifa swing punches at the nimble Rikku, yet seemed to notice Kairi enter the room, as her ears pricked up and she turned her head to look at her.

"Ah, Kairi! Here at last!" she said. "You're rather late.

"Sorry." mumbled Kairi, tucking her long, auburn hair behind her ears awkwardly. "I had an after-school detention."

There was a pause.

"Anyway…" she continued. "I heard there was a new assignment."

"Yep, you heard right," replied Keiko. "Tonight we've got to kill a guy called Loz. He's a drug dealer and has allegedly killed 3 teenage girls."

This comment made Kairi's blood boil. She doubted he would have killed 3 young girls without raping them first…and she _hated_ rapists.

"Whereabouts --" she began.

"Hangs out near the junkyard." said Yuffie, cutting into Kairi's sentence. She walked over with a can of beer in her hand; there was a faint hiss as she pulled the ring out.

"Don't…get…dr-drunk!" warned Tifa, in between breaths. She was taking sharp, regular breaths as she jabbed swift punches at Rikku, who was skilfully ducking and blocking the furious onslaught.

"Pfft! Says the one who ones a _bar_!" scoffed Yuffie. She ignorantly lifted the can to her mouth, but Keiko snatched it from her before a drop of alcohol even touched her lips.

"Tifa's right, Yuffie." said Keiko, placing the can on the mantelpiece behind her. "If you get drunk, you'll be killed tonight."

"B…But…" whined Yuffie pleadingly. "It's only one tiny can! I'm not gonna get pissed by drinking that!"

"Alcohol greatly reduces reaction speed," she counter-argued. Kairi watched Yuffie frown and skulk off back down the corridor, muttering under her breath.

"What time do we leave?" she asked, turning back to Keiko.

"Half past midnight." she replied. "You've probably already gathered we're all going."

"Even the rookies?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, good experience." Keiko nodded. "Anyway, are you gonna prepare?"

Kairi nodded and bolted up the stairs into her bedroom. She closed the door with a swift back-kick, flattened herself to the ground, and crawled under her bed on her stomach. She reached out and fastened her hands around two leather scabbards and the handle of a large case.

Kairi shuffled backwards out from under the bed and drew the swords. There was the distinctive sound of steel cutting air as the blades were unsheathed. Hikari and Hikage. Her two most prized possessions. Made out of hundreds of layers of folded steel, the two katana had taken countless lives and, over time, had become stained a faint red colour with the blood of many foes. Kairi delicately slipped the blades back into the scabbards. She shuddered at the thought of having to use old hand-me-down katana like the rookie Yuki and her friends used. Next she opened the black case. Inside were multiple, neatly folded garments of clothing. Her assassin gear. This consisted of a navy, sleeveless top (sleeves would get in the way) with long, black, leather straps at the shoulders, which hung loosely down to her waist. The wide straps seemed pointless at first glance, but the in fact housed deadly shuriken in hidden pouches, and rarely got in the way as they would trail behind her when she ran.

As well as the dark top she wore jet-black combat pants, which had multiple navy belts dangling from the waist. These, in fact, would fasten Hikari and Hikage at her hips, and also provide a secure place for her grapple hook to sit. And, of course, there was the trademark accessory -- a black mask made of soft material that covered the lower half of her face. This was all standard ninja attire.

Kairi stood up and nudged the case to the side with her foot. She'd get changed later. In the meantime, she'd sleep. She'd need all her energy for tonight. Kairi yawned and collapsed on the soft bed, her auburn hair spilling out across the pillow like fire; her eyes felt as heavy as lead. She yawned and threw the duvet over her body. There wasn't much point in getting undressed -- she'd only have to change into her ninja attire when she woke up in a few hours. As she started to fall asleep her vision blurred and meaningless, unrelated thoughts began to swirl through her mind. Kairi closed her eyes, and almost instantly fell asleep.

''

"Kairi, wake up!" cried a voice. Kairi groaned, and reluctantly opened her eyes to see a girl with mid-length, light brown hair standing by her bed. It was Yuki, one of her younger comrades.

"Wha--?" groaned Kairi, sitting up. Yuki was already dressed in her assassin get-up. It was similar to Kairi's, but everyone's outfit was unique, so that the assassins could tell each other apart in the dark.

"Keiko says you've got 10 minutes to get changed and organized," she said. The 13 year old then turned around and exited her bedroom.

Kairi silently and obediently stood up from the bed and grabbed the black case by her feet. Throwing her clothes to the side, she stripped to her underwear and began pulling on her dark assassin outfit. She then pulled on her black mask, adjusting it so that it covered her mouth up to the bridge of her nose. She reached out, grabbed Hikari and Hikage, and strapped them to her waist.

Kairi was just about to exit her bedroom when there was a knocking on the window. She spun around to see Hotaru rapping her knuckles on the glass urgently.

"What's up?" asked Kairi, running over and opening the window. As to why Hotaru was perched on the windowsill was beyond her.

"You weren't watching me get changed, were you?" frowned Kairi.

"Don't be stupid!" she groaned. "Come on, we're waiting for you."

"Huh? Wh-what time is it?" she asked.

"12.40, hurry up!" replied Hotaru, and dropped down onto the garage roof.

_Damn it!_ She thought. _Who'd have thought it would have taken 20 minutes to get changed… Unless that damned Yuki was telling me a load of crap._

Kairi hopped out of the window and landed silently on the garage roof. In the distance she could vaguely make out figures standing on the rooftops, which she recognised as her comrades.

"Damn, wait up!" she groaned. With one swift leap she jumped from the garage roof onto the building ahead. She felt the wind whip through her hair as she landed softly on the roof, like a cat. Kairi began running along the rooftop, the tiles squeaking beneath her feet. She began to run more light-footedly, so that the squeaking tiles wouldn't alert any foes that happened to be lurking in the shadows below. In a matter of seconds, Kairi had caught up with her friends. Keiko turned to look at her.

"A little late, aren't we?" she asked, frowning. Her voice was muffled slightly by the black mask she wore.

"Sorry." Kairi mumbled, turning red. Luckily, the darkness masked it. She didn't like people seeing her get embarrassed.

"Let's move on ahead," she ordered.

"Hai!" echoed the group dutifully, and dashed along the roof, leaping from building to building. Kairi glanced at Yuki, Hotaru, and Masami. They'd been in the team for almost a year, and even though they weren't the best at moving around, their skill had increased greatly in the short period of time they'd been training. Kairi, however, was extremely agile. She could run along thin beams with perfect balance, fight life-or-death battles on rooftops and jump from building-to-building and land without a sound. She was easily equal to Yuffie, Rikku and Tifa, yet still possessed nowhere near the amount of skill as Keiko.

Kairi's feet flew effortlessly along the tiled rooftops. She was running alongside a masked Rikku, who kept sprinting a few feet ahead of her, only to fall back. Kairi never got out of breath. She loved running. It gave her a chance to release all the energy stored inside her. She loved the feeling of the fresh air whipping against her skin and streaming through her hair. She always came first in PE, and had set many school records in cross-country.

"Whoa!" cried Keiko suddenly, and screeched to a halt. Everyone else stopped, too, skidding on the slippery tiles as they tried to stop.

"What is it?" asked Kairi, scanning the area. Keiko put her hands firmly on Kairi's head and forced her down.

"Wh-what?" she frowned, struggling.

"Stay down!" she hissed. Everyone else heard her, and dropped to their stomachs. Kairi wriggled out of Keiko's grip and shuffled to the edge of the roof on her stomach. Inching forwards, she stared over the edge, onto the ground. There was a figure moving silently along the walls.

"Loz!" she whispered aloud. She quickly shuffled backwards and sat up.

"Keiko, what shall we do?" she asked. Keiko stood up, but stayed low, crouching.

"When I give the signal," she said, waiting until the others had risen. "We ambush."

Kairi's hands fastened around Hikari and Hikage. Keiko glanced around at everyone. Tifa had pulled on her leather fighting gloves, while Yuffie grabbed a few of the shuriken on her belt. Kairi knew that Keiko used a range of weapons. Usually, fights consisted of hand-to-hand combat, but weapons were there in case the situation got a bit sticky.

"Ready?" whispered Keiko. She held up 3 fingers and began the steady countdown.

"3..."

_This was it, no going back. If she left now, her comrades would be endangered and the killer would live._

"2..."

_Man, why was she getting so nervous? She'd done this before. She'd killed gangsters and thugs, just like him. Yet…_

"1..."

_He was only a gangster…right? Something felt a little off… She had this peculiar feeling in the pit of her stomach…_

"Strike!" yelled Keiko. Loz looked up, just in time to see 8 assassins leap from the building and come flying down at him. In the nick of time, he dodged to the side. Kairi landed heavily on the ground. She'd…missed? But she was headed right for him!

Kairi furiously looked around for the gangster.

"Where is he?" she spat. There were confused murmurs and curses.

"There!" cried Hotaru suddenly. 8 heads turned upwards to look at the roof of the building that they'd just been on.

"How did he get up there!" cried Yuki.

"Never mind, let's get him!" ordered Keiko. Kairi grabbed her grapple hook from her belt. She turned and looked at the building, then threw the hook towards it. The metal claw wrapped itself around the gutter pipe along the roof, grabbing the wire with its steely teeth. Kairi gave the wire a tug to make sure it was secure, and then squeezed the trigger on the small contraption on her end of the zip-line. She felt her body jerk forwards and her feet leave the ground as she was pulled up, the black gadget she held coiling the wire into it. As she neared the top, she placed her feet against the side of the building and hoisted herself up onto the roof. The hook disconnected and she quickly strapped it back to her belt.

"Kairi!" cried Yuffie suddenly. She whipped around in time to see a fist fly towards her. She swiftly ducked it and rolled to the side as a foot aimed a hefty kick at her. Scrambling to her feet, she got up and swung her foot at the person in a skilful side-kick. It couldn't be Loz…the gangsters she faced were usually slow and muscular. This one was swift and agile, and about a ¾ of a head taller than her.

Her foot connected and hit the guy in the stomach. Kairi strained to see the face of her foe, but it was masked by darkness and a mass of wild hair. The guy stumbled back and cursed under his breath. Kairi went to punch him again, but a blinding flash of light interrupted her.

"What the--!" she cried, throwing her hands up over her face. She heard the confused cries of her comrade behind her.

"What was that?"

"A flash bomb?"

"Where the heck is he?"

Kairi whipped around to see a flurry of feathers whisk past. She looked up in complete bewilderment and saw a winged figure soar onto the roof above.

"What the--!" she cried. Yuffie cried and Keiko swore violently.

"Is that the same guy?" cried Rikku.

"He's got wings? How the hell did he get wings?"

Kairi gasped. Wings? On…a human? But…how?

"Move!" snapped Keiko. "Don't be caught off guard, whatever the circumstances!"

The 7 other assassins nodded and grapple-hooked onto the building. Kairi hopped up and charged towards the winged assassin. This _definitely _wasn't Loz! The person (she presumed it was a guy, by the build of the body) zipped to the side and dodged her blow. Thinking one step ahead, Kairi kicked out to the side. To her shock, he grabbed her foot and threw her onto the floor. Kairi grunted as she fell onto the hard metal tiles of the roof, and strained to get up. It was difficult-- she had been winded in the fall. Kairi sensed a shadow fall on her and groaned, rolling over. She saw the foot of her enemy come hurtling down towards her face. She screwed up her face and waited for the blow…but it never came. Instead there was a dull thud and a grunt of pain. She looked up to see Yuffie standing by her floored foe, who was scrambling to his feet, stray feathers fluttering around.

"Cover me!" ordered Yuffie. Kairi nodded, and flew at the assassin again. He ducked her attack easily, and then swung his fist at Yuffie. The punch connected with her jaw, and she went falling backwards.

"Yuffie!" cried Kairi in anguish. She ran over to her, but Rikku blocked her path.

"Watch your back!" she cried. "Don't let him near you!"

"B-But…" began Kairi.

"I'll see to her! You keep that guy off me!" she ordered.

"Me? Why can't I…?"

"Kairi, I kinda don't like to admit it, but you're more skilled than me." said Rikku, crouching down by Yuffie, who seemed to be semi-conscious. "If anyone can take him, it's you. Now go! Before you get killed!"

Kairi nodded and turned around. The person was standing a few metres away, wings spread.

"What do you want?" cried Kairi. Her fists clenched around Hikari and Hikage. Rain started to drip from the sky.

"You're…an assassin…" he growled. She could just make out a pair of eerie, shining eyes through the darkness.

"Wh-why would you want to know?" she stammered.

"I am under strict orders to kill every one of your kind." he spat.

"By who?" she stammered, fear slowly flooding through her. Her adversary gave a cocky grin.

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you." he smirked. "Unluckily for you, I'm gonna kill you anyway."

Before Kairi had a chance to protest, he charged towards her. Kairi's heart leapt into her mouth, then she executed a skilled back flip and somersaulted past his attack. She unsheathed Hikari and Hikage. As mysterious and awe-inspiring as this person was, he was dangerous, and would have to die.

Kairi sprinted towards the winged assassin, clutching Hikari and Hikage firmly. There was the unmistakable song of steel as the swords swooped through the air towards him. Suddenly, she felt the swords rebound off something, and was knocked back a few feet by a sudden gust of air. She looked up and found that her adversary had wrapped his large, white wings around his body, and they seemed to have shielded the blow. She suddenly gave a gasp of pain as a fist flew at her and caught her in the stomach.

"How the hell…!" Kairi gasped, winded. She stumbled backwards, hesitating only for a split-second. She leapt forwards and swung her foot up, catching him in the jaw. As he staggered backwards she leapt and landed a heavy punch on his chest, but then he grabbed her wrist before her fist connected. He twisted her arm around painfully and swung his leg up, slamming his knee into her gut. She groaned and he landed another violent punch on her, smacking her straight in the face. Searing pain shot through her, and she wondered if her nose had been broken, and she felt warm blood trickled down her lip.. She gave a hard tug and broke free of his grip, and then heard a cry in the distance.

"Kairi! Pull out!" cried Keiko. "We've gotta retreat! He's way too strong!"

"But…" began Kairi, glancing at her foe, who was advancing on her again. She realised that there was no point in arguing with Keiko. She leapt back onto the other building and, seeing her flee, the winged assassin dropped into the shady alleyway below.

"Hurry!" cried Keiko, beckoning for her to move. Kairi ran as hard as she could, her legs pounding as fast as her heart. She reached the gang of killers, where she was pleased to see Yuffie had recovered.

"Wait…" started Masami. "Where's Hotaru?"

"Crap!" cried Yuki. Hotaru was one of her best friends. Kairi nudged the younger girl with her elbow and gestured further ahead. Hotaru was stumbling along the roof.

"Hotaru!" she cried. "Wh…What are you doing?"

Kairi squinted through the darkness. It seemed that Hotaru had her mask pulled up too high…It was covering her eyes, and now she couldn't see.

"Oh my god…" she groaned.

"Hotaru!" snapped Keiko. "No time for foolery! We have to flee! He could fly up any minute! He's an extremely powerful foe!"

"I'm not messing!" groaned Hotaru, fumbling with the mask. "I can't see, dammit!"

"Watch the hell out!" cried Rikku, as she stumbled towards the edge of the roof. With one final tug, Hotaru managed to get the mask off, but toppled off the edge of the building as she did so.

"HOTARU!" yelled Masami. The 14 year old courageously leapt off the edge of the building to help Hotaru. Everyone dashed over to the edge of the roof and peered down. There were cries of terror, then the scampering and pounding off footsteps. Two assassins and a winged hunter ran out into the nearby parking lot, which was illuminated by streetlights. The 6 ninjas watched in horror as the killed caught up with Masami and grabbed her in a headlock.

"Get the hell outta there!" screamed Keiko. Masami struggled against her capturer's grip, but before she could escape he grabbed her jaw and twisted her head. There was a sickening crack as he broke her jaw and let the body drop to the ground. The murderer then spread his wings and soared along the ground.

"Nobody leave until we've got Hotaru!" cried Keiko furiously. She dropped off the roof, followed by Kairi, Yuki, Tifa, Rikku and Yuffie. The 6 ran towards where the winged person was headed, then, to their horror, saw Hotaru huddled against a wall.

"Get outta there!" snapped Keiko.

"Shut up!" hissed Hotaru. "I'm hiding in the shadows, he'll find us if you don't shut up!"

Kairi felt the blood drain from her face as the winged killer walked slowly around the corner.

"Baka! It's a white-wash wall!" snapped Rikku. Hotaru gulped and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, she was crouching against a white wall.

"K…Keiko…" said Kairi quietly, not trying to raise attention. She made a slight gesture towards the wall. The guy was standing over Hotaru.

"Hotaru!" she yelled. Hotaru looked behind her and cried out loud. He suddenly dashed forwards and grabbed her around the neck, pinning her up against the wall.

"HOTARU!" cried Yuki in despair. Keiko grabbed her by the back of her shirt as she tried to run forwards.

"Get out! Now!" she ordered. Yuki tried to protest, but Keiko dragged her back. Yuffie and Rikku fled, while Tifa tried to persuade a desperate Yuki to stay back. She finally managed to drag the girl away, and Kairi turned to Keiko desperately as Hotaru struggled for air.

"Wh-what should we do?" she cried. She gasped as she saw the guy raise his fist. Just then, Keiko ran out and charged at him, grabbing his wrist and kicking him in the stomach. He furiously lashed out at her, but she ducked his attack and punched him in the gut. Winded, he stumbled backwards, but then swung his leg up and kicked Keiko under her jaw. She groaned and fell backwards, landing heavily on the concrete ground.

"Keiko!" cried Kairi in alarm. Keiko groaned and rolled over. There was blood was trickling from her mouth. The winged guy began advancing on her, but then heard Hotaru's scampering footsteps as she began to run off. He whisked around and spread his wings, blocking Kairi's view. She felt her stomach turn as there was a terrified scream and a sickening crunch. There was a flurry of feathers and the person suddenly took off into the air, and vanished from sight as he disappeared into the night sky. Kairi glanced down at the ground where he had just been standing, and quickly turned away as she saw Hotaru's maimed body. At her feet, Keiko stirred.

"What the…?" she groaned. Kairi heard her fall silent as she saw Hotaru's bloody corpse.

"How the hell?" she gasped silently. She looked to the side and saw Kairi's pale face illuminated by the orange streetlights. Keiko shifted awkwardly.

"Maybe we should go." she suggested. Kairi nodded, her stomach doing flips. She tried to block out the images of Hotaru's corpse as they drifted back into her head. She grappled back onto the building and moved silently through the shadows as she began to make her way home. This wasn't a night she was going to easily forget…

* * *

Well, there's Chapter One! Don't forget to rate and review, because I will get very upset if there are no reviews...and absolutely NO FLAMES! All flamers shall die! Muwahahaha! 

**INTERESTING NOTE 1.**  
I got the idea for this story when I was playing _Tenchu _on my PS2. I'd previously been playing Kingdom Hearts, so I thought, 'Hey! I can make a story about Kingdom Hearts and assassins!"

So I did.

The other ideas for later chapters came when I was reading various mangas, and I decided to throw them into the plot.

And here's something you didn't know. The character Hotaru is my best friend, though that isn't her name in real life. The reason I killed off Hotaru was because, in real life (I won't mention any names, just in case) she broke my digital camera. My expensive digital camera. She says it wasn't her, but when I went to her house she was the only one using it, and funnily enough when I got home it had stopped working. Anyway, I got mad and decided to kill her in my story. Masami is also someone I know, and I killed her simply because I got bored.


	2. Keiko's Revelation

Me: Good morning! Or afternoon. Or whatever time it is. Anyway, welcome to Chapter Two of One-Winged Angel! And I know I'm gonna have to put that damn disclaimer up next, so...

:takes a deep breath:

Me: I do not own Final Fantasy or Square Enix. Sora: Aren't we missing something?

Me: N-no...

Sora: I think we are...

Me: Uhmm... :anime sweatdrop:

Sora: Say it, damn you!

Me: Argh! I don't own Kingdom Hearts either.

Sora: Which means you don't own _me_.

Me:thinks: Damn you, copyright laws!

* * *

Kairi slowly walked down the stairs, wincing slightly as pain shot through her injured leg. The battle with the mystery assassin the other night had certainly left its mark on her. Her lip was swollen and had bled like crazy, her face had a large bruise on the side and she had a gash on her forehead, which had been bandaged up. Her left leg had multiple bruises running down her shin, and she had a small graze on her arm. 

"You're looking a bit beat up, Kairi!" grinned Yuffie as she skulked down the stairs. Kairi shot her a death glare - she was not in the mood.

"Where's Yuki?" came Tifa's inquiring voice. Kairi walked into the lounge to see her sprawled out in the reclining chair, a can of unopened beer clutched in her left hand.

"She's shut herself in her room." replied Kairi wearily, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her. "She's still upset about last night, I guess."

"They were her best friends, huh?" said Rikku quietly. Kairi nodded.

"You were really going all out with that guy the other night." said Tifa, raising an eyebrow at Kairi, looking at the bruises and cuts on her body. Rikku sniggered, and Tifa threw a cushion at her.

"Not like that, pervert!" she groaned, as Kairi blushed.

"Just kidding!" she grinned. "You got beat up pretty bad."

"Yuffie got knocked out cold, though." said Kairi, trying to shift the sense of failure away from herself.

"That guy couldn't have been human…" groaned Rikku, shaking her head.

"Keiko's doing a scan at the minute. She's trying to find out records of him." pointed out Tifa. Kairi stood up, and gave a quiet whine as pain shot through her leg.

"I'm gonna go see how she's doing." she declared, and limped over to the other side of the room. Keiko was bent over her laptop, the blue glow of the screen faintly illuminating her face. Kairi thought she looked like some sort of hacker. Well, she _was _some sort of hacker. She, Rikku, Tifa and Yuffie had been taught how to hack top-secret databases by Keiko herself. Keiko looked up as she approached.

"How's it going?" asked Kairi, leaning over. The page was covered in HTML coding that she couldn't understand.

"Look at this." said Keiko, and opened one of the minimized tabs at the bottom of the screen. A web page came up, which was filled with slightly blurry photos. Kairi squinted harder at the pictures on the screen. They were all similar, and showed hazy pictures of what looked like a winged figure flying near a building, which was the same in every photograph.

"That's--!" she began.

"Yeah, it's the same guy." said Keiko. "We don't know his real name, but he's been nicknamed the 'angel of death', because he goes around killing assassins."

She clicked on the photo and a new page came up, displaying the larger version of the picture. In text, underneath, it read, _This photograph was taken outside of the Kurama High Boarding School on January 13th, 2006._

"January…" thought Kairi aloud. "That was only a few months ago!"

Keiko nodded.

"Before we saw him, he had no wings, right? That means they're not permanently out. And from the build of the body, I'd guess he was about your age, probably a year or so older." she said.

"So you think he goes to that school?" said Kairi, her eyes widening. Keiko nodded again.

"But, we have no idea what he looks like, or his age." she sighed. "He could be 13 to 18, we just don't know."

"Where's the school?" asked Kairi.

"About 10 miles south of here." said Keiko. Then she paused.

"Kairi…" she said. "I've been thinking, and I've come up with an idea."

"Yeah?" she replied, brushing her auburn hair out of her eyes.

"I'd like to enrol you in that school, and send you to investigate the area at night." she declared.

"Me?" asked Kairi, stunned. Keiko nodded her head.

"You'd be the best to do it. Out of everyone that's the right age to attend the school, you're the most skilled." she said, and Kairi blushed.

"Wh…What's the school called, again?" she asked.

"Kurama High." replied Keiko. "Its…"

She stopped.

"Yes…?" asked Kairi, intrigued.

"It's an all-guys boarding school."

"WHAT!"

Kairi reeled backwards in shock, and Yuffie, Rikku and Tifa glanced across the room at her quizzically. She ignored them, and glared daggers at Keiko.

"All guys?" she spat. "How the hell can I get into an all guys boarding school?"

"I was thinking, we could cut your hair short, and…"

"You are NOT cutting my hair off!" she snapped, instinctively raising her hands to her head. She loved her hair, with its silky, auburn sheen and soft texture.

"Okay, okay…calm down…" winced Keiko. "Maybe we could tie it back or something, or style it, or hide it under a cap…"

Kairi calmed down a little.

"I still don't see why_ I_ have to do this." she growled.

"There's something in it for you." she said. "If you do this, you'll get to take Ikioi-kujiku with you."

Kairi gasped. Ikioi-kujiku…the most powerful sword she'd ever laid eyes on. It hadn't ever been used, because of it's fearsome power and beautiful design. It was rumoured to even be able to grant the rightful owner the power of reincarnation…though she knew that was just a tale.

"Ikioi-kujiku…" she breathed.

"Yeah." nodded Keiko. "So, will you do it?"

Kairi paused, and pondered the question for a moment. She still felt uncomfortable with the idea of dressing as a guy.

"What will I have to do?" she asked.

"You'll have to keep an eye on anything suspicious, and at night you leave the building and watch for our 'angel of death'." she said. "That's why you're taking Ikioi-kujiku. So you can kill him the second you see him."

Kairi entered a train of thought. She never thought she'd ever have the chance to wield Ikioi-kujiku…but was it worth dressing and acting as a guy? When she worded it like that, the answer was a definite yes…though the thought of having to hang around hundreds of guys 24/7 and having to constantly act like one…

"Make your mind up, Kairi, I need a definite answer." said Keiko impatiently.

"I…" said Kairi, pausing again. "I'll do it."

"Yes!" cried Keiko, leaping up and embracing her in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you Kairi!"

"It's…no problem." she lied.

"Yuff! Rikku! Tifa! Kairi's accepted the assignment!" she cried.

"What assignment?" frowned Yuffie, furrowing her brow.

"The one with the boarding school, dumbass." groaned Tifa.

"Y-You knew?" cried Kairi in disbelief.

"Yeah, but we didn't wanna tell ya 'cos we knew we'd have a hard time getting you to say yes." shrugged Rikku.

"You should have told me!" she cried.

"Hey, no use complaining, you're doing it now." said Keiko. Kairi frowned and remained silent.

"Can we go practise making her look like a guy?" asked Yuffie eagerly. Kairi gulped and shrank backwards. Keiko nodded.

"Keiko!" yelped Kairi in disbelief.

"We need to find out what will make you look most like a guy." she declared. "And you can practise doing it yourself, too, instead of leaving it 'til the last minute."

Kairi blushed furiously, feeling like some kind of cross-dresser. She knew that there was no point in arguing, as it would only make them more adamant. This she'd learnt from trying.

"C'mon, then!" cried Rikku, grabbing her by the arm. Kairi gave a confused yelp.

"Wh-what?" she squeaked, and Tifa grabbed the other. They both pulled her backwards and started dragging her up the stairs, Keiko and Yuffie tagging along behind.

"L-Let me go!" she cried.

"Quit whinging, we know you'll run away if we drop you." sighed Tifa. They hauled her into her bedroom and dropped her on the floor. Disgruntled, Kairi stood up and rubbed her arms tentatively.

"That was a bit harsh." she growled. There was a scuffing sound, and Kairi turned around to see Keiko dragging in a huge standing mirror, helped by Yuki. She watched obediently as Keiko shoved it against the wall parallel to her.

"There." she said proudly. 'Now Kairi, how can we make you more of a guy?"

Yuffie, Tifa, Keiko, Rikku and Yuki all stared at her quizzically, pondering. Kairi blushed--she hated people staring at her.

"We need to do something with her hair." said Rikku finally.

'We could cut it short, that'd help." suggested Tifa. Kairi's eyes widened in shock.

"NO!" she yelled, wrapping her arms over her head. "You are NOT touching my hair!"

"We won't do all of it!" said Keiko pleading.

"Don't you _dare_ come near me." she growled, raising her fists defensively.

"We'll only cut it off to your chin, like you used to wear it." begged Rikku.

"No way!" she said firmly.

"Fine, fine." sighed Keiko. "You two, leave her. We'll do something else."

Kairi breathed a huge sigh of relief and relaxed, letting her arms drop to her sides.

"We could gel her hair up." suggested Yuffie. "Her hair's long, so we could make it really spiky."

"I suppose that'll do…" she sighed. Keiko's face lit up, and she instantly dashed out of the room, returning shortly with a tub of hair gel.

"We have hair gel?" frowned Tifa.

"Yeah." replied Keiko, unscrewing the lid.

"Why the hell do you have guy's hair gel?" asked Kairi.

"Long story." grinned Keiko, and dipped her hand into the thick, clear blue substance. She scooped out a bit on her fingertips and began coaxing Kairi's hair into spikes. Kairi shuddered as she felt her hair being tugged into loose tufts. She detested the feeling of her hair being upright…it felt extremely uncomfortable, and she was fighting the urge to swat her friends away and pull her hair down. She shuddered as Yuffie started styling the back.

''

After about half an hour, Yuffie, Rikku and Keiko stepped backwards. Tifa and Yuki studied her, nodding her head.

"What do I look like?" groaned Kairi. She turned towards the mirror, but Yuffie leapt up behind her and clapped her hands over her eyes.

"No looking until we've done!" she said, struggling to keep Kairi under her grip as she tried to wrestle away from her. Keiko sprang up and turned the mirror so it was facing the wall, just as Kairi squirmed out of her arms. Kairi groaned and patted her spiky hair.

"Ohh…you've wrecked my hair…" she groaned, trying to fluff it out. Rikku and Yuki burst out laughing.

"She's getting into character already!" she sniggered. Kairi grinned.

"Practise your guy voice." ordered Keiko.

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

"You can't go around talking like you do now. They'll know you're not a guy."

"B-but…" she whimpered, blushing. She would be so embarrassed.

"Would you rather lose your pride or your life?" she asked.

"C-Can't I save it 'til the day? It's not that hard to deepen your voice." she whined. Keiko pondered for a moment.

"Okay, okay." she sighed. Kairi gave a silent cheer of happiness.

"Right, now we need the guy clothes!" grinned Keiko, rubbing her hands together.

"Don't tell me you've got _them _as well." groaned Yuffie.

"No, but we can go and buy some." beamed Keiko.

"Whaat?" groaned Kairi. "I am NOT going out like this."

"Don't panic, me and Tifa'll go." said Keiko. "We'll only take 10 minutes. The shop's just up the road, and we'll get loads of different outfits, and your school uniform."

Kairi could just imagine what they'd come back with. Keiko and Tifa we shopaholics, but at least she knew she'd get fashionable clothes by sending them out.

"Going now?" asked Yuki. Keiko nodded, and sprinted out of the room with Tifa. Kairi groaned and gingerly touched her hair. It felt weird all spiked up…but they hadn't used much gel, so it was still soft. She doubted if she would _ever_ look like a guy.

''

"We're back!" came Keiko's chirpy voice as the front door opened. Kairi, who was laid out on her bed, sat up. It had only been about a quarter of an hour since they left.

"Already?" she asked, as she heard two pairs of footsteps pounding up the stairs. Keiko and Tifa both had a carrier bag full of clothing in each hand. Kairi stared at them.

"How much?" she said in disbelief.

"Not that much!" grinned Keiko, emptying the bags onto the floor. Kairi looked as Yuffie dove in and began picking out outfits.

"Try this first." said Keiko, holding up the school uniform. It was sailor fuku, with a dark blue edge on the collar, and came with a pair of dark grey trousers.

"Is this the uniform?" she asked.

"Yes! Yes!" she grinned, thrusting the outfit at her. "Now, go and get changed."

Kairi reluctantly trudged out into the bathroom and began getting changed. She pulled on the new uniform and shuddered. Guys uniforms somehow felt more uncomfortable than girls. She adjusted the collar of her uniform and fastened her necktie. She shyly shuffled into her bedroom again. She blushed as Yuffie and Rikku stifled giggles.

"Don't patronize me." she growled.

"Sorry, no offence." grinned Rikku. "Just that with your hair and whatnot, you look just like a guy!"

Kairi frowned, but then felt relieved, as that was what she was _supposed_ to look like.

"Can I look in the mirror now?" she begged, desperate to see herself.

"Fine." shrugged Keiko, and signalled for Tifa to turn around the big mirror. There was a dragging noise as its heavy wooden feet slid across the carpet. Kairi caught sight of herself in the mirror and cried out loud.

"Oh my god!" she cried. "What the hell have you done to me!"

Her hair had been spiked up all over the place, which, surprisingly, contributed hugely to her male appearance. She'd already seen her uniform when she tried it on, though she didn't expect to look quite so masculine in it. She shuffled uncomfortably as she saw her appearance in the mirror and fought back the urge to dash back into the bathroom and change back into her girl's clothes.

"I look awful." sighed Kairi.

"You look like a guy!" replied Rikku.

"_Exactly_." she groaned.

"At least no-one'll suspect you." shrugged Yuki.

"I'm still not happy with the idea of going to a guy's school…" she grumbled, flicking one of the tufty spikes on her head.

"It won't be that bad!" shrugged Tifa.

"Yeah, and you'll get to hang out with fit guys 24/7!" grinned Keiko impishly. "And share rooms with them!"

"Keiko, you know I'd rather _kill_ a guy than sleep with them." smirked Kairi. Keiko laughed.

"Yeah, I'd better watch you don't go around at night killing all the guys you don't like." she grinned.

"If you ask me, the guys at Kurama High had better watch out!" smirked Rikku.

"Damn right!" said Kairi, clenching her fists into balls and jabbing punches in the air. Keiko laughed and playfully smacked her in the side. Kairi retaliated with a soft side-kick, catching her in the shin. Keiko cursed and ruffled her spiky hair just to piss her off.

"Get off!" she whined, swatting her away. Keiko just laughed.

"Better get your stuff packed." she grinned. Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"School starts tomorrow."

* * *

Well, it's finally done. I've been a lazy ass, and it's taken me ages...but somehow it's shorter than the first chapter. Chapters are meant to get longer, not shorter. Shorter makes it boring. Oh well. 

Here's a sneak preview of what's to come...

**IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:  
**It's Kairi's first day at her new school, and with Keiko delivering Ikioi-kujiku in the night, she's constantly on the lookout for anybody suspicious. She falls into a friendship circle with two gays and a pervert, and isn't very happy with who she's sharing her room with. Will Kairi ever find her foe? And how will she manage to hide a 3 foot long katana? All will be revealed...but only if you review! No reviews, no story...

So review, dammit!

Characters to come:  
Riku!  
Sora!  
Kadaj!  
Yazoo!  
Reno!  
Sephiroth!  
And more of my own characters!  
(Characters may not all be introduced in next chapter)

**INTERESTING FACT 2.  
**All of my own characters are real people. Yupyup, they're all my school friends, apart from Keiko, who lives in Japan. They've had their names changed though...well, apart from Keiko. Yuki is me!


	3. First Day at Kurama High

Me: Hello! You are cordially invited to the grand opening of One-Winged Angel Chapter Three, a.k.a the third instalment in the 'whole lot of waffle' series.

Hotaru: Yayness waffles

Me: Ugh not food waffles, baka. And you're supposed to be dead.

Hotaru: I'm not dying until you let me write the Jami Chiro bonus chapter.

Me: Uhmm...oh crap...I forgot I promised you that in PE.

Hotaru: Keeheehee.

Me:thinks: Damn you PE

Hotaru: Dani doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything Square-Enix either.

Me: Bakaaaaaaaa! SHUT UP! And don't give out my real name!

Hotaru: Calm down and continue with the story!

Me: You only say that so you can add your bonus chapter about Jami Chiro at the end.

Hotaru: I know.

**This chapter contains mild shonen-ai (boy love). It is merely kissing and flirting between two of my own characters, but if anyone does not wish to read any further because of this, please don't. And please don't flame me for it. The specified characters are two of my real friends, and even though they are open about being gay, it would no doubt hurt their feelings if you insulted them for it.**

* * *

The second Kairi stepped through the large, metal gates of the Kurama High boarding school, she was instantly overwhelmed with a sense of regret. She hesitated, not wanting to go any further. 

"Move!" hissed Keiko, giving her a harsh shove.

"D-Do I look okay?" she stammered, tentatively patting her red, spiky hair.

"You look fine," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Just change your voice a little."

Kairi cleared her throat and lowered her voice.

"Better?" she asked. Keiko nodded.

"What about Ikioi-kujiku?" said Kairi.

"I told you, if you call me and tell me your room number I'll drop it off in the night."

"And I hide it--"

"In your suitcase, under your bed."

"What if someone--"

"Threaten them, kill them, whatever!"

"But what if I--"

Keiko gave a frustrated cry.

"Argh! Kairi! Stop worrying!" she snapped, forcing her through the gate. Kairi gave a small whimper and stumbled onto the main yard. She turned around just in time to see Keiko dashing off down the road, in the opposite direction. She gave a heavy sigh and began shuffling towards the building, feeling extremely self-conscious. To her right there was a chain link fence separating her from multiple concrete courts, where there was a group of guys playing basketball. To her left was a large decorative fountain, gently spouting water, with a group of benches next to it.

Kairi suddenly sensed something fast approaching her, and instinctively ducked--just in time to see a large red and black basketball fly past her head. She decided to leap forwards and catch the ball, and turned around to face the basketball court. A bunch of guys were standing against the wire fence.

"Hey, pint-size!" called a large, dumb-looking guy. "Give us the ball back!"

Kairi muttered something inaudible to the guy across the fence and hurled the ball back. It flew across the court and landed at the very far side, after bouncing several times.

"Wow, the shrimp can throw!" said one of the lads, mildly astonished, as another dashed down the court to retrieve the ball. The large guy snorted.

"Probably the only thing he can do." he grunted. Kairi felt herself get angry. What a jerk, teasing someone on their first day at school. She had half expected to be called short at some point, though, because, being a girl, she was shorter than the other guys. Despite this, Kairi got the impression that the large guy had picked on a lot more people than her alone. She calmed down though, knowing that if she got into a fight _she _wouldn't be the one getting hurt.

"Hey, shorty! Where're you goin'?" he called. She ignored him, carrying on.

"Don't ignore me, kiddo." he growled, rattling the fence threateningly.

"Get lost." she snarled, walking towards the fountain instead. She felt the anger rise within her once again as he yelled insults at her, but ignored him and sat down heavily on a bench by the mesmerising water display.

"Ryosei bothering you?" asked a voice. Kairi looked up to see a young teenager staring down at her. He looked about her age, and had deep brown hair streaked with dirty blonde highlights. His eyes shone a friendly green colour.

"Kinda..." she mumbled. The boy sat down next to her.

"You should ignore him. He's a jerk, he picks on everyone." he sighed.

"Yeah, I will." she said. She prayed that he wouldn't see through her disguise at such a close range.

"I'm Tsukasa." he said, holding out a hand. She shook it warily. She didn't have much trust for guys. Tsukasa seemed to notice the sceptical look in her eye, and laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not chatting you up or anything." he laughed.

"Yeah..." said Kairi, and then suddenly gasped. Chatting her up...could he tell she was a girl?

"You...Y-You..." she stammered. Before she had time to say anything, another teenager came and sat next to Tsukasa. He looked about a year or so older than Kairi, and was tall, with sandy blonde hair and sea blue eyes.

"I hope you're not chatting up other guys, Tsukasa." he grinned. Tsukasa laughed and turned to face the blonde guy.

"Don't be stupid, Natsu." he said, smiling. Then, to Kairi's shock, the blonde guy grabbed Tsukasa by the waist and pulled him into a deep kiss. Tsukasa blushed a deep red as Natsu finished and pulled away.

"N-Natsu..." he said, turning crimson. Natsu laughed.

"Y-You're gay?" stuttered Kairi, looking at the two boys. Tsukasa nodded shyly and Natsu grinned.

"I'm Natsuteru--Natsu for short." he said. "And this is my boyfriend, Tsukasa."

"I hope you don't mind that I'm gay." said Tsukasa. "I mean, it's not like I'll come onto you or anything."

"No, that's fine!" said Kairi, and was filled with relief. She understood what he meant earlier when he told her he wasn't coming on to her. Thank god he didn't know she was a girl.

"Really?" asked Tsukasa, brightening up. "Most guys hate me for being gay...like that retard Ryosei."

"I don't mind." said Kairi, even though she probably would if she was a guy.

"You're not gay, are you?" asked Natsu. Kairi shook her head.

"Aw, dammit." he groaned.

"Natsu!" cried Tsukasa.

"Just kidding, just kidding!" he laughed as Tsukasa shoved him in the chest.

"Hey, I never got your name." said Tsukasa, turning to Kairi.

"Uhh...my name?" she asked. "It's Ka--"

Wait. That was close...Kairi wasn't exactly a guy's name, was it? She'd have to think of a name fast...

"Ka-Kazu." she replied.

"Kazu?" said Natsu. "That's a cool name."

He paused.

"Well, not as cool as mine."

Kairi snorted at his self-pride.

"Have you spoken to Riku yet?" asked Tsukasa.

"Riku?" she frowned.

"Yeah, he's in charge of assigning rooms." he replied.

"And Tsukasa fancies him." grinned Natsu.

"No I don't!" blushed Tsukasa. "Anyway, he's straight!"

"Where can I find Riku?" Kairi asked, quickly changing the subject.

"He's usually hanging around the swimming pool."

"Swimming pool?" Kairi asked brightly. She loved swimming...but then she realised her situation, and her hopes came crashing down as it dawned on her that there was no way she'd be able to swim.

"Yeah." replied Natsu. "If you'd like, I can take you there."

"Yes, please." she said politely. Natsu stood up and began walking towards the school, closely followed by Tsukasa. Kairi jumped to her feet and tagged along behind. Natsu gradually lead her towards the school, and as they entered the building Natsu stopped.

"What?" she said, looking around for the pool. "Why have we stopped?"

Natsu looked over his shoulder at a boy approaching. He was chubby, with short, blonde hair and pink skin.

"Hi, Samu." he said.

"Hiya, Natsuteru." he replied. Natsu cuffed Samu around the head.

"It's Natsu, dope." he groaned.

"Who's this?" asked Samu, nodding towards Kairi.

"This is Kazu." said Tsukasa. "He's a new student here."

"He's kinda small..." said Samu, and studied Kairi. She felt herself go red, but then calmed down as he shrugged and turned back to Natsu.

"What kinda stuff does he like?" he asked.

"Ask him yourself, Samu." groaned Tsukasa. Samu turned back to her.

"What're you into?" he asked.

"Umm...sports." said Kairi. This wasn't a lie. She always came top in PE, mainly thanks to her training as an agile assassin, which had greatly built up her stamina.

"D'ya like...well...girls and...stuff?" he asked. Kairi frowned.

"Don't answer him, he's a pervert." sighed Tsukasa. "He pervs on girls jumping into the river."

"Hey, what's wrong with that?" he demanded. "I'm fourteen! These things are natural!"

"Pssh, that's what you say." he groaned. Kairi gathered that Tsukasa wasn't too keen on Samu.

"You are straight, right?" she asked.

"Yeah!" said Samu, looking slightly shocked.

"Thank god..." she breathed. She didn't fancy being chatted up by a gay pervert. Tsukasa clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"Samu is _anything _but gay." he said scornfully. "All he does is lust over pictures of half-naked girls all day."

"So what?" shrugged Samu. "At least that's normal. You're gay, for crying out loud!"

"Got a problem?" snapped Tsukasa coldly, and hooked his arm through Natsu's. "Natsu, we were _meant _to be showing Kazu where Riku is. Not talking to _him_."

Natsu shrugged and nodded.

"See you around, Samu." he said. Samu gave an idle wave and walked up the nearby set of stairs to where Kairi guessed was the guys' dorm rooms.

"Natsu, why do you even like him? He's a perv." said Tsukasa, as he led Kairi back towards the pool.

"He's okay, really." shrugged Natsu. Tsukasa mumbled something under his breath that Kairi couldn't hear.

"You don't like him, do you?" grinned Kairi. Tsukasa shook his head.

"What about you?" asked Natsu, turning to Kairi. "Do you think he's okay?"

Kairi's first impression of Samu wasn't a positive one, and she disliked him more because he happened to be a pervert. She _hated _perverts.

"Uhm...I dunno. I've only just met him." she lied, in case she offended Natsu--who was obviously fonder of the boy than she was. Natsu chuckled quietly to himself.

"Funny. I thought all straight guys liked porn." he smirked. Kairi blushed and remained silent. Just after Nathan had finished his sentence, they came to a large pair of double doors.

"Here we are." he said, and shoved the doors open. Kairi walked through, and the smell of chlorine immediately filled her nose. Not that she minded it, though. Natsu and Tsukasa led her past the changing rooms, and through another set of doors into the swimming pool area. Noise filled her ears, and water from the pool sprayed her feet.

"Where's Riku?" asked Kairi, shouting slightly to make herself heard about the shouting of the guys in the pool. She knew that she wouldn't be able to spot him, as she didn't even know what he _looked _like. 

Natsu and Tsukasa began scanning the room, and Natsu suddenly called out to a guy swimming up and down the lanes.

"Hey! Riku!" he yelled. The boy with fairly long, platinum-coloured hair stopped and turned his head. Tsukasa beckoned for him to come up to them. Riku turned around and muttered something (Kairi suspected it was 'be right back') to the brown-haired boy beside him, and swam to the edge of the pool.

"What is it?" he asked, wiping the beads of water out of his eyes. He sounded slightly breathless.

"Ask him." said Tsukasa, and nodded towards Kairi. "We'll leave you with Riku. If you need me, I'll be at the fountain with Natsu."

Kairi nodded and waved as they left the room. She turned back to Riku.

"So, what's up?" he asked, grinning. "New kid?"

Kairi nodded.

"Could you tell me my room number?" she asked. Riku hauled himself out of the pool and stood in front of him. Kairi blushed as she caught sight of his muscular chest, which was dripping with tiny beads of water. She quickly whipped her head away, furious with herself.

"Uh...I don't know it off the top of my head." he shrugged. "I can find out for you."

"Thanks." said Kairi courteously. "When will you be able to find out?"

"Uhm, we can head back to my room now, if you want." he said. "I've got a big list of who's in each room, so I should be able to find you one pretty easily."

"Thanks! Great!" she said. She couldn't wait to find out her room, and tell Keiko to drop off Ikioi-kujiku. She was dying to lay her hands on that sword.

Riku turned around back towards the pool.

"Hey! Sora! I'm gonna go back and sort the new kid out with his rooms, 'kay?" he yelled. The boy in the pool Riku was talking to nodded. From what Kairi could see, he had brown hair--it was impossible to tell the style, as it had been soaked in water and flattened to his head.

"C'mon." said Riku, grabbing Kairi by the arm. "Let's go back to my room."

They walked out of the doors, and into the changing rooms. Riku pulled the key from the little band around his wrist and unlocked his locker, grabbing his clothes in the process. He walked over to a changing cubicle and turned to Kairi.

"I'm gonna go get changed, 'kay?" he asked. "Wait right there, I won't take long."

Kairi rolled her eyes and leant against the wall as Riku wandered into the cubicle. She heard a rustling of clothes as he dressed himself, and before long he reappeared again in the same uniform as her, wet swimming trunks shoved carelessly into a kit bag.

"Ready." he said, and shook his head, causing the water to spray everywhere.

"Can you show me where the dorms are? I seriously don't know how to get anywhere." she said, as Riku lead her out of the changing rooms.

"Did you come to one of the open days?" he asked. Kairi shook her head.

"Well, later I'll take you to see Reno. He's got a pile of maps somewhere. He gives them out on the open days." Riku replied.

"Reno?" she asked, frowning. He sounded like a really nerdy kid, carrying hundreds of school maps.

"He's the head. He's really cool." said Riku. "Anyway, the dorms are up these stairs. There are 50 rooms on each floor."

"Which room are you?" asked Kairi.

"49." he replied. ""C'mon."

Riku suddenly took off up the stairs to her right, leaving Kairi to run up behind him.

"Wait up!" she cried, sprinting forwards to catch up with him. They reached the top of the stairs and slowed down to a walk again.

"Hm, you're pretty fast." he said. Kairi blushed and said nothing. Of _course _she was fast. She was, after all, an assassin--trained in stealth and agility.

"It's nothing." she shrugged, and glanced at the door numbers as she walked down the corridor. 44...46...48...

"Here we go." said Riku, turning towards the door with a brass '49' on the side. He pulled a slim, silver card out of his blazer pocket and passed it in front of an infrared light set into a metal plate on the side of the door. A hatch flipped open in the plate, revealing a small number pad. Riku's fingers flew effortlessly over the flat buttons, and, after inputting his 6-digit password, there was a clicking noise, and he pushed the door open.

"Good security." said Kairi, nodding her head.

"Yeah, I'll show you how to use the lock later, when we've figured out your room." he said. Kairi followed him into the room, walking past a door or two until they reached the bedroom. Riku walked over to the desk near the window and pulled the drawer open. Almost immediately he pulled out a long form. He sat down on his bed and began reading down the list.

"Do you have any spare rooms?" she asked hopefully, not too keen on the idea of rooming with a guy. Riku frowned and shook his head.

"Not any spare rooms, but there are a couple of spare slots if you want to room with someone else." he shrugged.

"If I _want _to?"

"Well, you have no choice, really."

Kairi frowned.

"Who should I room with?" she asked. She wasn't happy with this at all. "Can't you just move someone in one room to fill up a gap in another so I can have the empty room?"

"Nope, sorry. We can't move people around. It goes on a record what room you're in, and moving would totally muck things up."

Kairi muttered something under her breath.

"I'll find someone good to room with you. I know most of the people at this place anyway." he shrugged. Kairi mumbled a quick word of thanks as Riku scanned through the list.

"Ah, here's a space. I've got a perfect room for you. You'll be sharing with my best friend. He's a great guy." said Riku.

"If he's your best friend, why aren't _you _rooming with him?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, I don't know why, but he doesn't like rooming with people." shrugged Riku. "He's not really antisocial, don't worry."

Kairi rolled her eyes.

"If he won't room with his best friend, what makes you think he'll go with _me_?" she asked.

"I'm sure he will if he's got no choice." said Riku, winking. "Besides, he's the best out of all of the other guys you could share rooms with."

Kairi shrugged and took Riku's word for it. Riku hopped to his feet, throwing the room list carelessly onto the floor.

"So that's settled. Room 15 is the name." he said. Kairi nodded and Riku grinned again.

"Let's get you to see Reno." he said. "He'll give you a door key and the password. And you wanted a map too, right?"

She groaned loudly. Headmasters were always so old and boring.

"Can you show me to his office?" she asked. Riku nodded, and promptly ran out of the room. Kairi began dashing after him. He seemed very energetic. He was probably team captain of some kind of sport, she guessed. Keeping up with him was no problem, though.

"Watch your step." grinned Riku as he bounded down the stairs. Kairi cleared the last 9 or so steps in one leap, landing on the ground like a cat and grinning profusely. Riku grinned to himself, but then immediately slowed down to a walk as a teacher walked past. Kairi jogged up beside him.

"So where's Reno's office?" she asked.

"Here." replied Riku, nodding to the right. Kairi stared at it.

"Go on, then!" he hissed, and nudged her in with his elbow. She stumbled through the door and stood dumbly in the middle of the office. There was a guy sitting at a desk in front of her. He had spiky, red hair, which fell over his eyes, and was tied at the back in a long, loose ponytail. He was leaning back comfortably in his chair, feet propped up on the desk. He also wore a pair of black goggles on his forehead, but they were almost completely hidden by his wild, red hair. He seemed to hear her walk in, because he stopped flicking through the large pile of papers he held in his hand and looked up at her expectantly. There was an awkward silence.

"Uh, I'm looking for...the headmaster." she said uncomfortably.

He raised an eyebrow.

"He's sitting in front of you." he said, as if that was the dumbest thing he'd heard. Kairi's eyes widened.

"Y-You're the...?" she said, dumbstruck. A huge grin spread over Reno's face and he nodded. He leapt to his feet and briskly walked over to her, sticking his hand out.

"I'm Reno." he said, winking. "I guess you're a new student, huh?"

Kairi nodded.

"Have you seen Riku?" he asked. She nodded again.

"He told me to see you." she said. Reno laughed, spun around and pulled open one of the drawers in his huge filing cabinet at the back.

"That lazy ass, he could have come in here himself." laughed Reno. "What do you need?"

"I need the door key and password for room 15." she said. "And a school map."

"Okeydoke." he said, and pulled out a folder. He tipped the contents onto his desk and began rummaging through them. He grabbed a flat, silver card identical to the one Riku had and handed it to her.

"There." he said, and sat at his laptop. "I'll just get the password."

While Reno began typing madly, Kairi glanced down at her key card. It was a platinum colour, with a silver stripe down the left side. In gold writing, along the right-hand edge of the card, it said, '015'. She ran her finger down the cool silver strip.

"Here we go," called out Reno. "Code is 267415."

Kairi nodded, memorising it almost instantly.

"Don't you wanna write it down or something?" he frowned. Kairi shook her head. She could easily remember a 6-digit number. Reno shrugged.

"I'll just record you in the new room." he said. "Name?"

"Kazu." she replied. "Kazu...uhh..."

Surname. She hadn't thought of that. Just then, Keiko's name sprang into her head. She'd have to use hers.

"Hideko. Kazu Hideko." she replied confidently.

"Okay..." mumbled Reno, and typed it in. "Right. You're all set. Maps are on the shelf there."

Kairi gave a nod of thanks, and walked back out of the door, grabbing a map as she left. When she got outside, though, Riku had gone.

"Probably gone back to the pool." she thought. She didn't want to go and look for him. Right now she was more concerned about getting to her room, and calling Keiko to get the awesome sword.

She grabbed her suitcase, which had been left next to the doors to the swimming pool, and began hauling it up the stairs. She carried it down the hallway, until she reached room 15. She pulled her key card out of her blazer pocket and dumped her suitcase on the floor, not really caring. She saw the red, flashing light on the door and held the silver strip on her card to it; there was a little beeping and the number pad was revealed.

"267415..." she thought aloud. She had no problem remembering it. Her fingers flew over the keys as she put in the 6-digit pass code, and the door lock clicked open. Using her foot, she nudged open the door and dragged her suitcase through it.

In front of her was an open door, which lead to a bathroom. To her left was a wardrobe, and to her right there was a short corridor leading into a bedroom. There were two beds parallel to the wardrobe, and a desk against the wall. On the western wall of the room there was a small balcony. One of the beds was unmade, while the other looked neat and untouched. Guessing this was hers, she kicked her suitcase under her bed and pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket.

She flipped it open and hammered in Keiko's phone number, knowing it off by heart, and put the mobile to her ear. It rang a couple of times, then she picked up.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice Kairi was glad to hear. She sat on the bed.

"Keiko, it's me." she said.

"Kairi! Are you all sorted?" she asked.

"I've found out my room number." she replied.

"Go on, then. Tell me."

"Number fifteen."

Kairi heard Keiko tell the others to write it down somewhere. She came back onto the phone.

"Fifteen, got it." she said.

"Keiko, be really careful when you bring it." said Kairi in a hushed voice. "I'm rooming with another guy."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Couldn't you get an empty one?"

"Believe me, I tried."

Silence.

"Tell you what, if you meet me on the roof at midnight, you can take it back with you." instructed Keiko.

"Gotcha." replied Kairi.

"Got your ninja gear?" she asked.

"In my suitcase." grinned Kairi.

"Perfect." said Keiko. "Don't let your roommate get in it, though."

"No probs." she answered. "See you tonight."

"Bye!"

Kairi tapped the 'end call' button on her phone and shoved it in her pocket. She sat heavily on the bed, staring at the big wall clock, swinging her feet idly. It was only 5.00. At least she'd arrived at the weekend, not having to worry about classes...yet. Maybe she should go and look for Tsukasa and Natsuteru, they were fun to hang around with.

Just then, she heard a creaking and a boy with tufty, chocolate brown hair walked in. He had deep blue eyes, and had a towel slung over his shoulder--and his hair was still damp. He frowned at her quizzically.

"Who are you?" he asked, a look on confusion coming over his face. Kairi frowned back at him.

"Kazu Hideko." she said. "Your new roommate."

There was silence, then it dawned on him. The expression on his face quickly changed to one of anger and he furiously turned to face the door.

"RIKUUUUUUUUUU!"

* * *

Yes! Finally! I've finished! I've made a new rule that I'm gonna publish each Chapter every Sunday, and I was here last night, having to type 2,000 words before Sunday. Which was pretty impressive, seeing as this Chapter is only 4,000 and something words. Anyways, I finished it, and now it's time for another interesting fact! 

**INTERESTING NOTE 3.  
**Ryosei, or Ryosei the Japanese Man Chav Punk with a Six Pack is my friend Rozi's character. She has a six pack (true). And she pissed me off in PE by covering me in mud so I decided to make her Ryosei the Japanese Man Chav Punk with a Six Pack. At school, I very rarely use her name. I'll either call her Six Pack or Ryosei.

I never actually got round to introducing Ikioi-kujiku in this chapter... Oops. Well, it will definately be in the next one! That's a promise!


	4. Special Delivery!

Me: Hi again! Jeez, I've been rushing so much to do all these chapters every Sunday! 

Hotaru: Shouldn't you be concentrating on schoolwork? 

Me: That's not something you'd normally say...(frowns)

Ryosei the Japanese Man Chav Punk with a Six Pack: Oi! Dani! I'm not too happy about you writing that about me! 

Me: What? That you aren't really a 14 year old girl? You're a Japanese Man Chav Punk with a Six Pack?

Ryosei the Japanese Man Chav Punk with a Six Pack: Yeah, and just to piss you off, I'm gonna rub it in your face that you don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Square-Enix. 

Me: Shut up...(cries) 

Hotaru: When is Mirumach--

Me: BAKAAAAA! DON'T REVEAL THE FUTURE CHARACTERS!

Hotaru: Sorry...

(is quiet)

Me: Then let's begin! A big thanks to Iridaceae, SuPaNiNjA4EvAh and Kandrisia for all the support!

* * *

There was the sound of a door slamming, and the exasperated brown-haired boy skulked down the short corridor and into the room. He sat down heavily on the bed, wearing an irritated look. 

"You're not too keen on sharing rooms, are you?" said Kairi, feeling a pang of guilt that she'd rarely ever experienced. Why she felt responsible, she didn't know.

He shrugged, calming down significantly, and lay back.

"It's not that I don't like the people here," he said. "It's just that I prefer to be alone in my spare time, after spending all day surrounded by other guys."

"I know what you mean," she groaned, sympathizing with the boy. She preferred to be alone in her spare time, as well. Usually, she'd shut herself in her room and train, after hanging out with the others all day. Then, she glanced at the clock. It was ten to midnight.

"Um, aren't you sleepy?" she asked him. He shrugged again.

"Kinda." he said.

Kairi panicked. She needed him to be asleep for when she went to get Ikioi-kujiku.

"You should really sleep, uhh..." she began.

"Sora." he corrected her.

"...Sora, whatever." she said quickly.

"You're not in a hurry to go to sleep," he said, grinning cockily. Kairi wondered how he'd changed from cold and arrogant to sarcastic and bright.

"I...uh, have to go to the bathroom first." she said, and scuttled down the corridor and into the small room on the right, locking the door firmly behind her. She groaned silently and leant against the wall. He'd have to be asleep before she even thought about leaving the building.

She glanced at her watch impatiently every few seconds. Kairi then heard a rustling noise, and hoped that was him getting changed, not going through her back. Nah, he couldn't have been. She'd have heard the zip go first--and, being an assassin, she had extremely acute hearing. Then, there was silence.

Kairi waited about another five minutes, and, after hearing no more noise, she slowly unlocked the bathroom door and tiptoed into the bedroom. She leant over his bed. Yes, he was asleep. His eyes were closed firmly, and his breathing was relaxed and regular. Then, she wandered over to her own bed and silently slid her suitcase out from under it. Carefully undoing the zip, she retrieved her night gear from the bag and shoved it back under the bed.

Kairi ran light-footedly back into the bathroom, and began getting changed. She hastily pulled on her usual attire, quickly pulling on her mask when she'd finished--it was now almost midnight. If she didn't hurry, she'd be late. She ran back into her bedroom, and grabbed Hikage and Hikari out of her suitcase. Kairi ran over to the window--making sure she didn't wake Sora--and slid it open. She sat with one leg either side of the windowsill, and swung her legs round so that she dropped down forwards and landed on the roof below.

She could _just_ reach the windowsill if she stood on the tip of her toes, so she hauled herself up and shut the window. Groaning from the strain put on her arms, she dropped back down again, her fists clenching around the sheathed swords at her waist.

Kairi glanced at her watch and pressed the 'illuminate' button. The hands lit up dimly, just enough so that she could read the time--it was dead-on midnight. Kairi decided to wait somewhere further away from her window...any window, in fact. She hopped along the rooftop, until she was a fair distance away from her bedroom. Then she sat cross-legged on the black tiled roof, waiting patiently.

About five minutes later, Kairi heard soft footsteps padding along the roof, almost silently. Her reactions seemed to slow, because before she could even reach for Hikari and Hikage, she felt a shadow fall over her and a heavy foot come crashing down onto her back. She was knocked forwards, and began sliding down the roughly tiled roof. Kairi's instincts kicked in, and she threw her weight over so that she was sliding on her stomach--and grabbed the edge of the rooftop just as she toppled off the edge. Dangling from one hand, her body swinging like a pendulum, she glanced down at the ground, which was so far off it was completely masked by the darkness of the night.

Kairi inhaled deeply, swung her legs up, and scrambled back onto the roof. The grip on her swords loosened as she realized her attacker was a familiar friend of hers.

"Keiko?" she asked. A laugh was her reply.

"Not bad, kid." came a cheerful voice. Keiko Hideko stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light of a nearby street lamp.

"Have you--"

"Yeah, I've got it," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "How did I know you'd say that?"

Kairi grinned and watched Keiko untie a long scabbard from her waist. She handed it to Kairi. The first thing Kairi noticed was the handle of the sheathed sword. It was tightly wrapped in ribbon, silver and gold ones. This made a pattern of silver criss-crossed lines with little gold diamond-shaped in between. The guard was not made out of bronze, or silver--but pure gold. It came in a hard, black scabbard that she presumed was some sort of wood, which was tipped with a steel cap.

Kairi slid the long blade out of the scabbard and fell silent. The blade stretched to about 3 feet, and was a shiny, white silver colour. In the edge of the blade there was perfectly inscribed gold kanji characters spelling out the name of the blade. They were raised slightly, and each one was perfectly drawn. The blade seemed to get paler towards the sharp end, which was lined with diamond and sharpened to a point so fine she could barely see it. The time the maker would have spent filing the diamond--the hardest substance on Earth--was impossible for her to comprehend.

"That blade's made out of platinum, y'know," said Keiko.

"P-Platinum?" she gasped. That was an extremely rare substance and very expensive to get hold of. "Who made it?"

Keiko shrugged.

"Who knows?" she asked. "They say it came from the heavens, born from the tears of the god of war."

"They?" Kairi asked.

"All the other assassins that had seen this." said Keiko. "You're the only person I can remember to ever use it."

Kairi blushed.

"I bet I could just take him down with a normal sword..." she said, feeling guilty that she had interrupted hundreds of years of inactivity. Keiko shook her head.

"You need it. I can tell that that guy isn't natural. I think you'll even have a hard time taking him down with that...and he could be under stronger command, too."

Kairi gulped at the idea of anything stronger than the guy she'd fought.

"So, have you found anyone suspicious?" asked Keiko.

"Shit!" cried Kairi suddenly. She'd forgotten all about watching for people.

"Watch your language," grinned Keiko, watching Kairi blush and mumble an apology. Kairi sheathed the awesome sword and stood up straight.

"I'll keep a look out tomorrow," she said. "I promise."

Keiko nodded and poked her in the side.

"You'd better," she said sternly. "Because that's the only reason you're here."

Keiko turned around and dropped silently off the roof and made her way back towards the exit of the large school. Kairi carefully held Ikioi-kujiku in its scabbard, gazing at it in awe. Suddenly, she felt a heavy object hit the back of her head, which was in fact a small rock. She spun around to see Keiko standing on the floor below her, staring up at her.

"Quit slacking and get back to your room!" she yelled impatiently. Kairi smiled to herself and made her way back to her bedroom. She should've known Keiko would do something like that.

Kairi found herself standing under her windowsill again. How was she going to get up with Ikioi-kujiku in her hands? If she fastened it on her belt, she wouldn't be able to lift herself that high. She cautiously patted the leather pockets on her belts.

"Ah, crap." she groaned. She'd left her grapple hook in the room, so she couldn't even use that to climb up. She stood there, contemplating if there was any way at all she could reach the window without leaving the sword behind.

"Damn." she groaned, after cycling through all the possibilities and their outcomes. She'd have to sneak back in through the front door of the building and make her way up to her room.

Kairi silently dropped down from the roof to the heavy ground, landing light-footedly with Ikioi-kujiku in her hand. She crept along the side of the building, hugging the wall as she did. It may have seemed like she was overreacting, but although there was little chance she'd run into her winged adversary, there were still night watchmen guarding the school from burglars.

She crept along the wall, careful not to trip or make any load noise to alert possible passers-by. Kairi approached the edge of the building, and slowly, carefully tilted her head around so that she could see around the corner. There was nothing, except folds of pitch-black darkness. Just as she decided it was safe to move, she heard heavy footsteps approaching--and a night watchman ran over, shining a bright torch at her.

"Halt!" he bellowed. "Trespasser!"

Kairi froze, like a deer in the headlights. After a few seconds of inactivity, her reactions kicked in, and she got the better of herself and drew Hikari and Hikage. She certainly didn't want to use Ikioi-kujiku on a mere guard, although she had no intention of killing him anyway. Now it was the watchman's turn to freeze.

"A-A-Assassin!" he cried, terrified. He dropped his torch, held his hands in the air and stumbled backwards, completely unarmed.

"D-Don't kill me!" he stammered. Even in the inky darkness, Kairi could still see his face has gone ghostly white. Assassins had a bad reputation around the area...though they were strictly rumours. She and her comrades would never kill innocents...unless they had no choice. The guy stammered again.

"You-You're working with him, aren't you?" he gulped. Kairi loosened her grip on the swords.

"Him?" she asked, frowning. "Who is _he_?"

The guard realized what he had said, and immediately tried to cover it up.

"What do you mean?" he gasped. "I-I didn't say anything."

"Tell me." she snarled, taking a step closer.

"I...I don't know what you're on about." he gulped. In one quick movement, Kairi whipped around and held her sword to his throat.

"Tell me." she repeated, in a more threatening tone. The guard broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed dryly.

"Th-the winged killer." he gasped. At this, her ears pricked up.

"You've seen him?" she asked. The man nodded. "Do the students know?"

He shook his head.

"R-Reno thinks it would scare them." he whimpered.

"Reno's in on this?" she asked.

"N-No..."

Kairi pressed the blade closer to his throat. She wanted to find out as much evidence as she could.

"Ah! Okay, okay, he knows." yelped the watchman. "Please, don't kill me."

Kairi, feeling as though she had sufficient information, let go of the man. She wasn't going to kill him, yet she wasn't going to let him remember this meeting, either. From one of her pockets, she pulled out a small, metal canister with a ring on the end. She saw his eyes widen as she tossed it around in her hand.

She wasn't cold-hearted enough to kill innocents, so she'd just leave him unconscious instead. She yanked the ring out of the end, and white gas seeped through the hole in the top as she tossed the grenade towards him. As it hit the ground, the white gas billowed out of the sleep grenade, and, as the gas drifted through his nostrils and slowed his reactions, Kairi leapt up behind him and swiftly pushed down on his jugular--but not hard enough to kill him. He collapsed, unconscious, on the floor.

Covering her mouth with her gloved hand, Kairi tiptoed past him and through the front doors of the building, careful not to breathe in any of the drugging gas. The halls were pitch-black, but Kairi's memory was almost photographic--she could remember the map with ease. She crept up the stairs and approached her door. Feeling Ikioi-kujiku at her waist, she slowly pushed the door forwards.

Nothing.

It didn't budge.

Kairi cursed under her breath. How could she be so stupid! Of course the door would be locked...Sora had locked it when he came in about half an hour ago, and both the door keys were in her room.

She didn't have to curse for long, though, as she suddenly remembered something Keiko had taught her years ago. She felt in her pocket and retrieved a small, glowing blue chip. Kairi searched the metal panel, and suddenly stopped as her fingers brushed against four tiny holes. With the most delicate touch, she flicked a tiny switch on the chip and four metal spikes protruded from its surface. She carefully slid them in place with the holes in the control panel.

They would have those holes on all security systems across the world. They were usually used to let the creators program the locks, but Keiko had created a way to bypass the security system on the tiny chip. Keiko had taught her to hack locks.

The minute she pressed the chip into the panel, there was a strained whirring noise and the hatch slid open to reveal the keys. A flickery, blue light shone from the chip and displayed an image of a huge number board in the air. A hologram, you might say. Faint numbers lit up on the screen, and Kairi hastily hammered them in on the key pad. If she wasn't fast enough, the door lock would seize up and she wouldn't be able to get in. 

To her relief, the door unlocked. Kairi put the chip safely back in her pocket and crept back into her room. Sora was still asleep, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled down her mask, and made her way into the bathroom again, where her pyjamas were sprawled out across the floor. They were ugly and boyish, tight around her hips and loose around her arms and legs. She frowned as she pulled them on, and bundled her assassin clothes into a pile in her arms.

She glanced at Ikioi-kujiku on the floor. Her arms were full, so she'd go back for them when she'd dumped her clothes. She went back into her bedroom and kicked the suitcase out from under her bed, throwing her outfit into a pile inside it. She went and fetched Ikioi-kujiku again, and knelt down by the suitcase. This time, she took great care in packing it away--she carefully slotted it down the side, so that it was hidden by her regular clothes and shoes.

_I really should unpack my stuff_, she thought, but then realized the time, and that she'd probably alert Sora by doing so at this hour. She zipped up the back, and was just about to climb into her bed when she heard a rustling noise. She looked up to see Sora leaning over the edge of his bed, sleepy-eyed, frowning at her.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and flicking his hair out of them. Kairi froze and turned bright red.

"Uh...I'm...umm...Putting my toothbrush away." she lied.

"Oh."

She could tell he didn't believe her.

"I was just about to get into bed." she said truthfully. "I couldn't sleep."

Sora shrugged, pulled the duvet over his head and rolled over.

"Whatever. Just let me sleep." he said, voice muffled by the thick duvet. Kairi didn't object, and climbed into her own bed. She lay her head again the soft, white pillow, and tried to drop off. Thoughts of Ikioi-kujiku swirled through her mind...and Reno...what did he know about that winged guy? Before Kairi even knew it, she'd drifted off into deep sleep.

"Kazu! Wake up!" cried a voice. Kairi groggily opened her eyes to find Sora leaning over her, shaking her arm roughly. Behind him stood a blonde haired boy she didn't recognize.

"Wh-what?" she yawned. She was tired from the night before.

"The night watchman got knocked out, man!" cried the blonde kid behind Sora. Kairi's eyes widened at this.

"Wh-what?" she asked, sitting bolt upright.

"Yeah, he's out cold on the courtyards!" said the same boy in awe.

"That's Roxas." said Sora, nodding to the blonde boy. Roxas nodded.

"A-Are they getting the police in?" stammered Kairi. He shrugged.

"Could have been anything." he said. "I think he was attacked, though!"

Sora laughed.

"You would, Rucksack." he teased. Roxas frowned at him--he hated being called that.

"He's okay, right...?" asked Kairi, praying he wasn't dead. Sora nodded, and she gave a silent breath of relief.

"Come on, then!" said Roxas, dragging her up. "Kazu, right? Hurry up and get dressed. I wanna check this out!"

* * *

Aiiiii...I wrote ALL of that one the Saturday...God, it's awful when you realise that you're one day before you promised you'd upload and you've only written 150 words...

Well, I'm finished now, so I can take a break and maybe get some homework done...ah, sod that. I'll draw instead.

**INTERESTING FACT 4.  
**I forgot to eat when I wrote most of this chapter...hehehe (stuffs face)  
There is going to be Kadaj and Sephy in later chapters, which I did for my good friend Tsukasa. Somehow he thought I'd wrote about him and Natsu having sex...pfft he wishes ;)

Sorry this chapter is so short! I only did it on Saturday, like I said, and I've been trying to think of ways to get revenge on my dumb-ass school librarian...she wouldn't let me go on the computers to type this up because she said she didn't like me! STUPID COW! (thinks about putting in fanfic and killing off)  



	5. Accusations

I'm so tired right now, so I can't be arsed to blabber on about all the shit I usually put at the start. (yawns)

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Square Enix.

This chapter is gonna suck so much 'cos I'm practically asleep. Oh well, I hope it turns out better than the previous 4.

* * *

Roxas practically threw Kairi into the bathroom along with her uniform, and barked at her to get changed quickly. She groaned and changed out of her comfortable nightclothes into her stiff, grey school uniform. In a matter of minutes she reappeared again, confronted by the excited, impatient blonde.

"C'mon, I really wanna see this!" he said. Sora grinned.

"I didn't think you were the violent type, Roxas," he teased. Roxas blushed.

"I just meant that it'd be pretty cool to see." he said. "Kind of."

"Roxas' bloodthirsty side is finally revealed..." grinned Sora. Roxas gave him a playful, yet harsh, punch, and he and Sora began to play fight. Kairi tapped her foot impatiently, burying her hands into the silky pockets of her navy blazer as she usually did when she was getting impatient.

"Ahem? Weren't you the one going on about checking this thing out?" she frowned, raising an eyebrow at the teenage blonde. Roxas dropped Sora, who was losing the tussle, and nodded.

"Yeah, 'kay." he said, and bounded out of the room. Kairi followed him, and noticed Sora lock the door behind him. She felt in her pocket to make sure she had the key card - she didn't want to go through the same as last night. She rolled her eyes as Sora sprang forwards and ruffled up Roxas' hair, as if it wasn't already wild enough.

She patted her own hair to make sure it had maintained its spikiness, and that it hadn't gone flat and girlish while she slept. Luckily, it was still the same; she thought of it as similar to Reno's, though without the ponytail.

Kairi bounded down the stairs in a bid to catch up with the speedy boys, and ran into someone as she did. It was Tsukasa, with Natsu trailing along and complaining behind him.

"Oh, hi, Tsukasa." she said. Tsukasa nodded and mumbled 'Hi'.

"Where's you off to?" he asked.

"Going with Roxas and Sora to check out that fuss about the guard," she said, hiding her guilty conscience.

"Oh, we've just been there." he said, matter-of-factly. "If you like, we can take you there. Your friends seem to have taken off."

Kairi leant over his shoulder, and groaned as she realised Sora and Roxas had gone off without her.

"Okay." she said. Tsukasa linked his arm through Natsu's, and wheeled him around.

"We're going back outside," he told him. Natsu groaned.

"Tsukasa, we've just _been _there." he sighed. "I need to do my hair. I look a mess."

"Yeah, you do." he joked, walking out of the building. Natsu gave an impish smile and ran a hand through Tsukasa's hair. A look of mingled shock and horror spread across his face, as he gingerly touched his hair - his most prized possession.

"You bastard!" he screamed, and attempted to slap his boyfriend. Natsu ducked, laughed, and walked on ahead. Kairi tagged along behind, many thoughts flowing through her head. She hoped he wasn't in a bad state and that the school hadn't phoned the police, or anything drastic like that.

The three teenagers dashed onto the yard, where they saw Sora, Roxas, and a few other kids crowding round an unconscious man. Kairi pushed her way past to the front, where she met up with Sora and Roxas.

"Hey." she said, muscling her way past a younger boy. "Where'd you go off to?"

"We thought you were behind us." said Sora, and shuffled to the side so that she could get a better view. Kairi stared down at the ground, and saw the guard sprawled out unconscious on the floor, eyes wide with shock. Guilt flowed through her as she saw the empty gas grenade by his feet.

"The guy gassed him and everything!" said Samu, who was standing nearby, eyes wide with excitement. "Awesome! I wonder who did it?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Kairi saw Reno pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath. She was almost certain that he thought the winged assassin had done this, as he was in on the news about him. Her, possibly. Even though when she fought him he had a guys voice. (**A.N. Could've been Rozi, lol**)

"Get out the way, fags." came a sudden, harsh voice. Kairi turned around to see Ryosei shove Tsukasa and Natsu to the side, tripping Natsu over as he did. Kairi felt anger rise in her. Tsukasa had helped her out on her first day, and even though she didn't intend on getting close to guys, she felt she had befriended him. And he was gay, anyway, and seemed as if he would rather stay in doing his hair in the mirror than going on a midnight killing spree.

"Leave him alone, you dumb shit." she spat, glaring at Ryosei. She heard Roxas give a small gasp behind her, and heard others whispering quietly. Ryosei's face turned crimson - not the embarrassed shade of red, but the angry one. He stomped over to her and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her a few inches off the ground.

"You wanna say that again?" he snarled, breathing heavily into her face. Kairi wrinkled up her nose. His breath smelt of dog food.

"Typical chav, letting your fists do the talking." she retorted, feeling extremely confident and not the least bit scared.

"You got a death wish?" he growled, leaning forwards their faces were almost touching; his aggressive eyes were burning through hers. Kairi, though, collected a huge lump of saliva in the back of her throat and spat straight in his face. She heard Sora give a short laugh, falling silent as he realised the consequences of mocking Ryosei.

All attention seemed to be directed away from the guard and onto the two arguing teens. Most people thought that this new 'Kazu' wouldn't stand a chance against the bullying Ryosei. But Kairi knew better - although she could, if she wanted to, just let him beat her up, so that she wouldn't be suspected.

"You're gonna regret that, you little shit." snarled Ryosei, wiping the spit from his brow. Suddenly, he swung a heavy punch at Kairi's head - which she dodged instantly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a suspicious Reno walking over to the excited crowd. Kairi grinned to herself, already planning out what she was going to do.

Ryosei's second punch landed, even though she'd let it. It hurt more than she'd expected, but still let out a false cry and stumbled backwards. He grabbed her collar again and punched her in the face. Hot blood trickled from her nose, but she didn't care. She could feel it wasn't broken. Another punch hit her, this time in the jaw. Now she could see Reno pushing his way through the crowd, eyes fixed on Ryosei, anger burning through his eyes. She knew Ryosei was gonna be the one blamed, but she decided to add salt to the wound, and raised her hands up to her face, whimpering.

"Leave me alone!" she wailed, fear flooding her eyes. "I told you, I don't want to! Stop it!"

Reno walked over and pulled Kairi away from Ryosei.

"What's going on?" he demanded. "What's he doing?"

Kairi gave a false whimper and sniffed, looking at Ryosei in terror.

"He was beating me up because I told him I wouldn't have sex with him," she whimpered. She smirked inwardly as the blood drained from Ryosei's face. A few howls of laughter could be heard in the crowd, whilst some people just stared at them, shocked that she had dared to say that.

Reno turned to Ryosei and raised an eyebrow, folding his arms sternly.

"What's this?" he said.

"I didn't!" he roared, going red in the face. "He's lying!"

"That's sexual assault, my friend." he retorted, glaring. Kairi gave a sigh of relief as she realised that Reno believed her. "Kazu has only been here a day, and already you're trying to force him into things he clearly doesn't want to do!"

Ryosei stared, dumbstruck, and gave Kairi a death glare.

"But I didn't--"

"Save it for detention." said Reno firmly. "My office, every day for the next month. You can clean out my bathroom, and then write an essay about why you've done wrong."

Ryosei opened his mouth, then shut it again, realising he wouldn't win this argument. He glared at Kairi with the look he reserved for mortal enemies, and stood there, looking up at Reno like a retard.

"Well, go on! You can start now!" he snapped. Ryosei swore and skulked off, fists clenched. Everyone started talking and muttering excitedly, and then Tsukasa walked up to Kairi.

"You really didn't have to stick up for me like that..." he said, blushing. Kairi shrugged it off.

"It was no problem," she said.

"But...you're bleeding!"

Kairi felt the warm blood on her lip and shrugged.

"No big deal."

Natsu stood up, brushing the dust off his jacket and flicking his blonde hair.

"That jerk messed up my hair." he sighed. "Come _on_, Tsukasa. I need to sort myself out."

Tsukasa sighed, and nodded.

"Fine," he said. "See you around, Kazu."

Kairi waved as the couple walked off, and then felt herself surrounded by three familiar teens.

"Whoa, that was_ awesome_!" cried Roxas. "You totally showed up Ryosei!"

"I guess not many people like him, then." she shrugged. She heard Sora, Roxas and Riku, who was standing with the two other boys, snort.

"See this here?" asked Roxas, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a nasty white scar. "Ryo did that to me 'cos I wouldn't give him my phone."

Kairi's eyes widened. Ryosei certainly was a nasty piece of work - could he be the one she was looking for?

"Hey!" cried Sora suddenly, shaking Kairi's arm. "The guard's coming round!"

She glanced onto the floor to see the watchman groan and slowly sit up, clutching his head. All of the kids crowded round again, seeming to forget the Ryosei incident. The guard shook his head and slowly stood up.

"Wha...?" he groaned, rubbing his face. "Why am I here?"

Suddenly, he caught sight of Kairi through the crowd and his face paled.

"It's him!" he cried suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at her. "I know it! Those eyes! Assassin!"

There was a confused murmuring, and every glanced at Kairi quizzically. Kairi looked as confused as they did, shrugging.

"What are you on about?" she asked him.

"Don't play dumb with me!" he snapped. "You were the one who attacked me last night! Someone...Someone call the police!"

Kairi swore mentally and tried to calm him down.

"Keep it down, you're delusional. You've just been attacked." she insisted.

"LIAR! You tried to kill me!" he spat, flying at her. Kairi raised her hands above her face, whilst Riku and Sora jumped on him and held it back. Right on cue, Reno came running along.

"Hey, Nobu, you're okay!" he said. "Whoa, calm down, why the heck are you trying to attack the kids?"

'Nobu' lashed out violently, catching Sora in the chin, who then uttered a strangled cry. Riku immediately dropped the guard and scuttled away from the insane guard.

"That's the one that attacked me!" he bellowed, glaring at Kairi.

"You mean Kazu? C'mon, Nobu, he's a kid! He couldn't have attacked you in the night, he'd have been asleep!" he said, obviously not believing the talk the man was spinning him.

"He's got the same eyes!" insisted Nobu.

"Most kids have blue eyes," sighed Reno, clapping a hand on the man's shoulder. "Come on, Mr. Violent. I think we'd better have a chat in my office."

Nobu hung his head and trailed off towards the building, repeatedly muttering of Kairi's guilt. Roxas looked at her.

"Wow, two birds with one stone!" he said, sounding impressed.

"Is he a jerk then?" she asked. Roxas nodded.

"Kinda like a grown-up Ryosei. But not as much of a bully." he shrugged. Sora walked over, his lip swollen and bleeding.

"I can't believe that bastard hit me," he growled, wiping the blood from his chin. "I hope Reno sacks him. I can't believe he thought _you _were his attacker!"

"Pretty dumb, eh?" she laughed. "C'mon, I think we both need to get cleaned up."

"Yeah, may as well." he shrugged, rubbing his bruised chin. "Roxas, Riku...you two coming?"

"That's just your way of making us come." smirked Riku. Sora flashed them both a grin and headed back towards the dorms.''  
''  
Kairi stepped out of the bathroom, after washing her face. She leant over the mirror and examined her face. Her lip was swollen, and still had a few beads on blood on it, and there was a large bruise under her eye and on her cheek. Sora seemed to have a cut lip, and there was an ugly black bruise forming on the underside of his chin. Kairi would say she'd got beaten up worse than him; she was used to it, though.

Sora was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headrest, tapping buttons on his PSP. Kairi sat down, bored. She wished she'd brought a handheld console, or even a TV console, with her to keep her boredom at bay. She glanced at the TV at the other side of the room and idly approached it. She frowned as she searched around it, looking for the remote.

"Sora?" she asked. He looked up from his game.

"What?" he replied.

"D'ya know where the remote is?"

"TV's broke. Same in every room." said Sora. "Otherwise, I'd be on my PS2."

Kairi groaned and slumped back down on the bed. She was even more bored now; she couldn't even play a multiplayer game with him. Maybe she could head home tonight and grab Rikku's PSP or something...

As she thought, there was a rapid knocking at the door. Kairi got up and approached it, pulling the card out of her pocket. Sora suddenly jumped up.

"Don't open the--!" he began. Too late. The door slid open to reveal two old teenagers with sleek, straight silver hair and cat-like emerald eyes.

"--Door." Sora groaned. The one with shorter hair pushed past Kairi and walked up to Sora.

"Well, well, trying to shut us out, were you?" he asked. Sora glared at him.

"What do you want, Kadaj?" he groaned.

"Have you forgot? Brother and I are in charge of room inspection." he smirked. Kadaj walked over idly to the dresser, looking around at the room.

"Not bad." he said. "What do you think, Yazoo?"

Yazoo walked over and leant over Sora.

"Hey, little Sora. Let me have a look at what you're holding." he said. Sora reluctantly pushed the expensive handheld device into Yazoo's black, gloved hand.

"Well, look at this little device!" he smirked, throwing it to Kadaj. Kadaj rolled it in his hands, examining it.

"Brother, it'd be a pity if it _broke_, now, wouldn't it?" sneered Kadaj. Sora said nothing. PSPs were expensive, around £180. Kairi started to feel an air of unease in the room. Kadaj let it purposely slip through his hands, but he caught it and threw it at Sora.

"I'll see you another time, little Sora." he said. "Yazoo, let's go."

Yazoo smirked at Sora and followed his brother out of the room, his long, silver hair flickering out behind him. Once they'd left, Kairi bolted back across the room and locked the door, before approaching Sora.

"You know him?" she asked. Sora nodded, and she could tell he was now in a bad mood. Kairi had felt something weird about Kadaj and his brother. They couldn't be trusted - she'd have to keep an eye on them.

'Where'd you meet?" she asked, not wanting to sound too personal. Sora didn't say anything, and shrugged. Kairi got the hint, and didn't ask anything else. She leant against the wall and tapped her foot on the ground.

Before long, there was another knocking on the door. Kairi ignored it, then heard a voice shouting,

"Sora! Let us in!"

Sora groaned, switched off his PSP and trudged over to the door. Upon opening it, Samu, Ryosei and a few other lads let themselves in.

"R-Ryosei!" gulped Sora.

"Shut up, I wanna ask you something." he spat.

"I thought you were in detention?"

"I finished early. Now shut up! Don't keep bringin' that up!"

Kairi froze as she heard Ryosei's voice, knowing that she was in for it. She swiftly ran outside onto the balcony and hid against the wall.

"What do you guys want?" she heard Sora sigh.

"Well, y'know how all the TV's have bust..." said Samu.

"Yeah, and you've got a laptop..." piped in another boy, scrawny, with glasses and a screwed up face.

"We need it to watch something," said Ryosei gruffly. The fourth boy, a little taller than the runty one, just adjusted his glasses and scratched his black hair, saying nothing.

"What is it?" Sora groaned.

"Tom, give us it," barked Ryosei. "NOW!"

She heard Tom whimper and give him something. She got the impression that Ryosei just used the boy to get what he wanted.

"WHAT!" Sora cried. 'You lot are _not _watching that on my laptop!"

"Why not?" demanded Samu. "What's wrong with it?"

"Only the fact that it's a porno DVD!"

"No, it's not!"

"Oh yeah, it just has a naked woman on the front with the captions "Should not be viewed by under 18's" on it for no reason whatsoever."

"C'mon, Sora! No-one else will let us use their laptops!"

"Well, I'm not gonna, either."

"Yes, you are."

Kairi heard Ryosei come into the conversation.

"Give's the laptop," he snarled.

"Get bent!" retorted Sora snappily. Kairi heard struggling and grunting, then the sound of a yell of pain, and a fist connecting.

"You bastard!" she heard Sora groan. "You would hit me in my goddamn mouth when you knew...shit, my lip's bleeding again!"

"Shut up," growled Ryosei. "And gimme the laptop, 'cos ya know I'm gonna hit 'cha again if ya don't."

"You'll get in deeper shit with Reno," replied Sora.

"Yeah, but where's the proof? I'd say it was the same injury as the one Nobu did on ya." he smirked. "An' you don't have any witnesses. These guys'll back _me _up. None of 'em have the balls to stand up to me 'cos they know I'd deck 'em."

"You dirty bastard." spat Sora, groaning. "That's not fair."

"Life's not fair, punk." grinned Ryosei. Kairi felt the blood boil in her veins. "So are ya gonna give it me?"

"It's in the top drawer." Sora groaned reluctantly.

"That's more like it," sneered Ryosei. "Daz, get the laptop."

"Sure," came Daz's reply. Kairi heard his footsteps as the short, black-haired boy went to pull the computer from Sora's drawer.

"See ya around, freak." grinned Ryosei, smacking Sora in the gut as he went. As soon as she heard the door shut, Kairi bolted from the balcony back into the room and knelt by Sora.

"Oh my god...he just robbed you!" she said, as it dawned on her. Sora grunted, looking at her as he wiped the blood from his lip.

"Not really." he said, clutching his stomach as he stood up.

"Yes, he did. He beat you up and took something valuable from you against your will. It's the same." Kairi informed him. Sora was silent.

"Aren't you gonna tell Reno?" she asked.

"What's the point? He'll deny it. Those three'll back him up, and everyone'll think it's the same injuries from when Nobu smacked me," groaned Sora.

Kairi placed a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder, but then snatched it away as she realised that he thought she was a guy, and that he probably thought she was coming on to him.

"That jerk deserves to die," he groaned. Just then, a thought popped into Kairi's head.

Now, there was an idea. If she crept into his room at night with her twin blades...that would mean there would be no more Ryosei. Ever. No one would miss him, and the best part of it would be the job satisfaction.

"Sora...which room is Ryosei's?" she asked, hiding her grin.

"Um, 13, I think," he shrugged. "Why?"

"Oh..." she said, shrugging innocently. "Just curious."

"Whatever." said Sora, and began searching again for his PSP.

_Room 13_, she thought. _Unlucky for some. And luck, Ryosei, is what you've just run out of._

* * *

I won't write much here, 'cos I have a mahoosive Spanish project to do. 

Oh yeah, and I've made a new decision. From now on, the person with the most reviews will have their character added to the story! If they win, I will PM them and ask them for details, and then add the character in the Bonus Chapter. Bear in mind, my friend Jade (Hotaru) will be writing it, so you will be related in some way to Jami Chiro. (rolls eyes) That's her name for James Marsters, who is, for those of you who don't know, Spike in Buffy.

But, if you really really don't like him (like me, lol, I get sick of hearing about him every day) you can have nothing to do with him. Whatever. Hopefully, this will get more reviews, cos there isn't too many at the minute. And if there's a draw, I will pick randomly. Bear in mind that I will only count reviews for this chapter onwards so that new reviewers don't just review all the old chapters.

Ja ne! (goes off to do Spanish Project)


	6. Intruders s!

Hello! Woot, new reviewers! Hehehehe, Rozi wasn't too happy when I told her people think she's a bastard and can't wait for her to die...LMAO, she knows it's just a joke. Or is it...?

This is the score so far for the reviewers - the one with the most points at the end will get in the story, and a draw between reviews will result in a randomised win. Or I could just put all the winners in...we'll see what happens.

Iridaceae - 1  
Kandrisia - 1  
SupaNinja4Evah - 1  
beachbum330 - 1

Thanks to all the above for reviewing! (hands out cookies to all)

I've just realised some new logic. Why should I bother putting the disclaimer at the start of every chapter if I've already put it for previous? Only a fool would think that halfway through a story I suddenly own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Square-Enix. Pssh. So that will save me a little bit more of boring writing. Anyhoosy, let the chapter BEGIN! (cuts ribbon with pair of humungous scissors)

* * *

Kairi slowly tiptoed along the roof, slipping slightly on the damp tiles, ignoring the misty rain falling on her skin. She clutched Hikari and Hikage and crept further down the rooftop, knowing the exact place she needed to be. Room 13...Ryosei's room. Her mind was made up - she was going to kill him. Silently, of course. 

He deserved it. Ryosei was more than a bully. He'd beat up kids for no reason, he'd verbally and physically abuse them, he'd vandalise property, and by the look of him, he was a drug pusher. He'd made a big mistake picking on Kairi and her friends; it was the last thing he'd ever do.

Kairi approached the balcony of the room she knew was 13. She climbed over the banisters and tiptoed to the large french doors, which had curtains concealing the room inside. She reached into one of the pockets on her night outfit and grabbed a small, stiff piece of wire. Kairi rammed it into the small keyhole lock on the door and began twisting it around, trying to familiarise with the inside of the lock.

It wasn't too long before there was a click and the door swung open. Kairi stepped into the room and was instantly overwhelmed with disgust. There were empty pizza boxes strewn out across the floor, and pieces of half-eaten food decorated the worktops. Chewing gum had been trodden into the filthy brown carpet, and Kairi could see multiple 'adult' magazines poking out from under Ryosei's bed, along with several other things she didn't want to mention.

Peering over the duvet, Kairi could see Ryosei was asleep - she could hear him, too. His snoring sounded like a chainsaw buzzing through a forest. She silently unsheathed Hikari and Hikage and approached the bed. She'd left Ikioi-kujiku at home - it was too valuable to waste on filth like Ryosei.

The steel blades glistened in the dim moonlight as she prepared to deliver the killing blow to Ryosei. She careful laid the two swords in a cross pattern across his throat, and was just about to slide them down when a faint noise stopped her.

Kairi whipped around to see a shadowed figure walk through the french doors, with two feathered wings folded at his side. The two assassins froze as they saw each other, none of them daring to even breathe. Kairi felt her blood run cold as she realised she'd left Ikioi-kujiku in her room. Damn! On the one night he finally reappeared she leaves her weapon behind!

Suddenly, the assassin's eyes flashed menacingly.

"You again..." he snarled. "I didn't finish you off properly last time, I take it..."

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"That's none of your business." he said coldly, and took a step towards her. Kairi backed off slowly, and clutched one of the shuriken on her belt. Then, as quick as a flash, she flicked her wrist around and threw it at him. The assassin ducked it, and it shattered one of the glass windows in Ryosei's room. This shattering seemed to stir him.

"Wh-wha...?" he frowned, and rubbed his eyes groggily. His face turned ghostly white as he saw the two assassins standing in his room.

"A-A-A-ASSASSIN!" he bellowed. Kairi swung her head around to look at him, and in the split second she did, the other assassin's fist came crashing down on her face. She swore as pain shot through her already bloodied lip, and she felt warm blood gush down her mask. She shivered as it trickled into her mouth.

The assassin leapt at her again and hooked his foot around her ankle, then proceeding to sweep her feet out from under her. Kairi landed heavily on the ground, and swore as her head knocked against the wooden table in the middle of the room. Meanwhile, Ryosei ran across to the other side of the room.

"HELP!" he cried. "HELP!"

Kairi cursed under her breath, knowing that his cries would attract attention. She scrambled to her feet just as the assassin attempted to grab Hikari and Hikage. As she stood up, she swung the swords at him. Blood splattered across his black suit, which was similar to hers, and he swore angrily, looking at his cut arm. He charged towards her and rammed her in the chest with his elbow, then brought his knee up heavily and caught her in the ribs. Pain shot through her body and she collapsed on the floor.

He advanced on her again, raising his foot above her body. With all the energy left in her, Kairi rolled over and hurled another shuriken at him. He groaned and it grazed his neck, leaving a visible red slash. The shuriken hit the wall and fell to the floor with a metallic clatter, followed by a shriek from Ryosei as it narrowly missed his head.

The assassin lunged at her again, and grabbed her by her collar. He slammed her against the wall, hands pressed tightly against her throat. Kairi felt her feet leave the ground slightly as he crushed her windpipe with all his force. Kairi's face turned blue and she began coughing. With each splutter searing pain jolted through her, due to the injury inflicted on her ribs.

Everything began to swirl in and out of focus as her oxygen began to run out. She fought for one last breath, trying to pull his hands from her throat. She could tell he was straining under the force he was inflicting on her, and she wondered if she could find enough energy left in her to kick him off...

Just before she blacked out, Kairi heard a hammering of footsteps, and then the door was kicked open. In rushed Reno, closely followed by Riku and Roxas. The two teenagers immediately paled at the sight of the winged assassin and backed against the wall. Kairi spluttered for breath again, her struggles and kicks weakening to the point where she was barely moving. Reno, as opposed to Riku and Roxas, didn't seem as if this was his first time facing the assassin - but he sure looked scared.

The assassin glanced quickly at the headmaster, then at Kairi. He must have thought she was about finished, because he swore and dropped her. Kairi's legs buckled from under her and she slumped to the ground, while the assassin jumped onto the balcony and spread his wings. Kairi watched him jump onto the other roof, then run into two shadowy figures. She couldn't tell if she was hallucinating due to lack of oxygen, but she swore the other two sprout shimmering platinum coloured wings and take off with the assassin.

Kairi groaned and rolled over, pain shooting through her. Reno ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Ryosei's eyes widened.

"WHAT? WHY ARE YOU BOTHERED THAT HE'S OKAY?" he screamed. "KILL HIM, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! HE TRIED TO KILL ME!"

Kairi shot a fearful glance at Reno, and stumbled backwards onto her feet, ignoring the pain that followed. She staggered out onto the balcony and disappeared into the night, moving as swiftly and silently as a shadow.

"Dammit!" groaned Reno, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Wh-who were they?" gulped Riku, with a dry throat. His face had turned the same greyish white colour as his hair.

"Some goddamn assassins..." spat Reno.

"Assassins?" squeaked Roxas.

"Yeah."

Ryosei butted in.

"Why did they want to kill me!" he demanded.

"You could have done something to upset them without realising." shrugged Reno.

"I haven't ever met and asa...assay...murderer!" he said, unable to pronounce such a word due to his low level of intelligence.

"You may have without realising it." said Reno knowingly. Ryosei gulped.

"W-Will they come back for me?" he asked.

"What about me?" asked Roxas. "Am I safe?"

"You kids, just calm down! I'll get security if that's what you want." said Reno. This seemed to calm the three down a little.

"So we'll be safe?" said Roxas.

"Whatever, kid. Stop panicking."

"But--"

"Look, whatever you do, don't tell anyone else about this."

"Why?"

"Everyone'll panic. Please, I'll pay you to keep quiet."

"Sir? You're bribing me and Riku?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well...alright then. We won't tell anyone."

"Good lads!"

Meanwhile, back in Room 15, Kairi was staggering back into her room. She looked to see Sora still asleep, thankfully. Kairi groaned as she went to the bathroom to get undressed - her chest was really hurting. Maybe she'd fractured a rib...nah, she'd be in a lot more pain from that. When she's changed into her night clothes, Kairi stumbled back into bed. She had multiple bruises all over her body - especially on her neck. How was she going to cover that up? Maybe she could wear a scarf.

The pondering of these questions seemed to relax her mind, as within a matter of minutes Kairi had fallen asleep.

"Uhhn..."

Kairi groaned as a shrill ringing echoed through the small room. The telephone next to her bed was trilling madly.

"What the...?" she groaned, wincing in pain as she leant over and picked up the reciever.

"H-Hello?"

"This is the Kurama High School wake-up service. Have a nice day."

"The hell...?" she groaned, glancing at the wall clock. "It's 6 am..." (**A.N: This is exactly what happened to me in Spain...grr...)**

In the bed next to her, Sora stirred.

"Good mornin'." he yawned.

"_Good_?" she asked. "I've never got up this early in my life!"

Naturally, Kairi was tired from what happened last night. She wished it was dark in the day so that she didn't have to lose sleep going out at night. Just then, something caught Kairi's eye.

"Sora," she said sharply. "There's blood on your pillow."

Sora's head jerked over to look at his pillow, and a look of fear came over his face.

"Aw, man!" he cried, and clapped a hand to his mouth, running into the bathroom. "My lip's been bleeding?"

Kairi heard him run the tap and splash his face with water, and before long he walked back into the room, with a few beads of blood seeping from the cut in his lip.

"Damn that Nobu." he said, sitting back down. "I hope he gets fired. You shouldn't keep your job if you go around smacking kids."

"Yeah..." said Kairi, and then suddenly hunched her shoulders up to hide the large bruise on her sore neck.

"You okay?" asked Sora.

"Uh, yeah. I've just got a stiff neck. I slept awkwardly." she lied. Sora shrugged, nodded, then walked over to the balcony. As he opened the windows, an icy draught swept into the room and blew around Kairi's bare ankles, causing her to shiver.

"Hey, Kazu," called Sora. "Come see! It's covered in ice!"

Kairi's ears pricked up. Ice? That was a perfect excuse to wear a scarf and cover up the ugly, telltale bruise on her neck.

"Cool!" she cried.

"Not cool." he groaned. "We've got gym today, outside."

Kairi's joy suddenly plummeted to fear.

"G-Gym!" she whimpered. How would she get out of this? The guys would definately notice something different as _she _got changed...

"Yeah, fifth period." said Sora. "Everyone has gym fifth period. Well, everyone in the high set."

"Is Ryosei in the low set?" asked Kairi. Sora nodded, and she gave a sigh of relief.

"Riku'll know your classes." said Sora. "We'll go see him."

Kairi nodded, and grabbed her clothes, racing into the bathroom. She quickly got changed, making sure she wrapped a thick scarf around her neck, and then headed out of the door to Riku's room. Luckily, she didn't have to travel far, because a certain silver-haired boy was making his way down the corridor already.

"Ah, Riku!" she said. "D'ya know what classes I'm in?"

"Um, sure." said Riku, shrugging. He fished around in his pocket.

"Here." he said, handing her a timetable. Kairi glanced at it.

PERIOD 1  
Music / Ms Mirumachi

BREAK

PERIOD 2  
Art / Ms Neil

PERIOD 3  
Resistant Materials / Mr Takafumi

LUNCH

PERIOD 4  
Science / Mr Palmer

PERIOD 5  
Gym / Mr Endo

"Not bad..." she shrugged, and shoved it in her pocket.

"So, what've you got first period?" asked Riku.

"Music." she replied idly.

"With...?"

"Ms Mirumachi."

"Ah. Me too."

Riku grinned.

"I'd watch out for her, if I were you." he said. "She's nuts."

Thinking this was a joke, Kairi laughed.

"No, seriously. She's loony."

Kairi gave another laugh, but then stopped abruptly as the familiar, searing pain shot through her chest again. Her laughter changed to choking, as she coughed her way into fighting for air.

"K-Kazu?" asked Riku. Kairi doubled over, coughing and spluttering. Sora suddenly came out of the room, dressed in his smart school uniform. The second he saw Kairi doubled over, clutching her chest and coughing madly, he dashed over to her.

"Kazu!" he cried. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

If Kairi could have answered, she would have told him to piss off. Did he _think_ she looked okay!

After about a minute or so of painful coughing, and desperately trying to stop Riku thumping her back, Kairi finally regained her breath and weakly stood up. She winced as she felt blood rise up through her face, and forced herself to swallow it down again, shuddering at the disgusting feeling and taste.

"You look really pale." said Sora concernedly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said weakly. "I think I've caught a chest infection."

She knew this was a downright lie, as the source of the problem was almost certainly due to the fight the other night.

"Hmm," grunted Riku. "You might wanna do something with your hair. You look kinda girly."

Kairi blushed a deep crimson and tried to fluff up her hair.

"I-I'll be right back." she said, and headed back to the room. She grabbed the pot of gel from the bathroom and began spiking it up, using the same technique as Keiko and the others had done back at home. This only took a few minutes and, after perfecting it, she walked back out again and met up with Sora and Riku again.

"That's better." said Riku. "Come on, let's...oh, god."

Kairi turned to face the same direction as him, and saw Ryosei walking towards the three.

"Hey, freaks." sneered Ryosei. "I'm done with your shitty laptop. The film was cool."

Sora muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'pervert'. Ryosei shoved the sleek, black laptop into Sora's arms.

"Your laptop's shit, by the way." growled Ryosei. "It's too slow. Like you, eh Sora?"

"Why don't you ever shut up!" blurted out Sora suddenly. Ryosei's face suddenly turned into a scowl.

"Don't mess with me, punk." he snarled, grabbing Sora by the collar. "I fought off two assassins the other night."

"Ryosei!" hissed Riku. Ryosei laughed.

"What's your problem, teacher's pet?" he sneered. Kairi felt her blood boil. Fought them off? He was screaming like a girl!

"Damn, Ryosei! We can't tell anyone!" snapped Riku.

"You actually _bother _listening to teachers?" he sneered. "You guys are losers."

With that, Ryosei shoved past them and headed off down the hall.

"So...what's this about an assassin?" asked Sora, holding his laptop under one arm.

"Promise not to tell?" asked Riku. "The other night...in Ryosei's room...well, there were two masked guys fighting...one had swords and everything."

"Really?" asked Kairi, pretending to sound shocked. She hunched her shoulders up, making sure the scarf was secure and hiding the marks on her neck. "It's pretty cold today, eh?"

"Yeah, I should've worn a scarf, too." said Sora. "You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna go drop my laptop off."

Riku and Kairi nodded, and then they made their way down to the hall.

"So, what do we do for breakfast?" she asked.

"We usually go buy some croissants or something at break." he shrugged. "I'll show you to class."

"What room is it?" she asked.

"03."

"Ah, I know where that is." she grinned. "I can remember it from the map."

"You've got an awesome memory." he said, looknig slightly amazed. "We'll wait up for Sora at the class."

Before long, the two teenagers had arrived at the music classroom. Ms Mirumachi gestured for them to come in, and they obeyed.

"Do I need any pens or stuff for this class?" she asked, realising she'd left all her sttuff back in her bag.

"No, we just read notes and play instruments all lesson." he shrugged. "Hey, here's Sora."

Sora walked into the classroom, followed by Roxas and Tsukasa. Tsukasa gave a small wave in Kairi's direction, and she waved back. Sora sat to the left of Kairi, and Riku to the right. Tsukasa sat on the opposite side of the table, and Roxas sat next to Riku.

In a matter of minutes, 20 or so more kids flooded into the class. There was a lot of commotion as everyone rushed to their seats.

"Settle down!" barked Ms Mirumachi. "I'm taking the register!"

There was complete silence as she cleared her throat.

"Right...Kyo?"

"Hai, sensei."

"Tsukasa?"

"Hai."

"Tomasu?"

"Hai."

Suddenly, for no apparant reason, Ms Mirumachi stopped calling out names, and her face turned red with fury.

"SHUT UP!" she roared. 'HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO ASK FOR SILENCE WHEN I TAKE THE REGISTER?" (**A.N: This is what I get every music lesson, even when no-one's talking**)

Kairi looked confused, and then Sora leant over and whispered in her ear: "The voices."

She giggled quietly to herself, then stopped quickly as Ms Millar shot her a death glare.

"Roxas?"

"Hai, sensei."

Ms Mirumachi was just about to call out the next name when a blond kid leant out from his desk.

"New kid." he hissed at Kairi. "Think fast!"

Before she could react, the boy threw a violin at her. It caught her in the stomach, and was surprisingly heavy. Kairi groaned in pain. Not from the violin, but from the pain in her lungs that had been set off, once again, by the violin. She began coughing roughly, and the boy laughed.

"SEIFER!" screeched Ms Mirumachi. "DON'T DAMAGE SCHOOL PROPERTY!"

"Sorry, miss." Seifer grinned. "Won't happen again."

Kairi, on the other hand, was still coughing. The pain was much worse than before...fire spread through her lungs with each breath.

"Kazu!" roared Ms Mirumachi. "Stop that coughing!"

Kairi would have replied, but, naturally, she couldn't. Something must be wrong with her. Coughing shouldn't hurt like this...

"KAZU!" she screeched. "THIS IS NOT A VERY GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION! AND DON'T LEAN ON THE VIOLIN!"

"Mirumachi-sensei, I think he's really hurt!" said Sora. Kairi clutched her throat as her windpipe closed up, and began spluttering for air. She rolled onto the ground on all fours and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Suddenly, blood leapt up through her throat again and, with a great deal of pain, splattered from her mouth onto the carpet. There were groans of disgust and concern from the class, and everyone stood around her.

Kairi kept coughing up more blood, the pain in her lungs increasing. As more blood rose in her throat, and the ability to get sufficient oxygen decreased, she felt her vision swirl and darken. The last thing she heard was the concerned chatter of the class before she blacked out.

* * *

I'M SO SORRY! I was late for uploading! Arrgh, it's my dad's fault. He made me log off at 7.00, right when I was in the middle of this. 7.00! Who does he think he is!

Just to let you lot know, Mirumachi-sensei is based on my music teacher, Ms Millar. I swear she's nuts or something, she barks at the class to shut up when no-one's talking, so me and Jade (Hotaru) decided that she hears 'voices'. Next update will be on time, I hope!


	7. No Name DISCONTINUED

(sniffles) I've been ill, so sorry if this comes up late. I caught a virus at the very start of the 2 week holidays. Talk about bad timing! (sneezes and shivers)

I explained the disclaimer thing in the last chapter, so... (sniff) there you have it.

And you may have noticed I've changed my pen name from hikarikairi159 to nusubito. Because I felt like it.

I'm really really sorry this was so late! I've been engrossed in playing Ragnarok Online, not to mention my final year 9 exams. But enough about that. Here's the latest chapter.

* * *

"Are you awake?" 

A kind female voice floated through Kairi's mind as she slowly opened her eyes. She seemed to be in some sort of hospital. She was laying on a white bed in a small room that stank of disinfectant.

"Wha...?"

A nurse in a white uniform leant over the bed. She had deep brown eyes and wispy, brown hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Where am I?" asked Kairi, sitting up. "Ah - OUCH!"

"Stay lying down. You have quite a nasty injury there." said the nurse, laying her back on the bed. Kairi groaned as agonizing pain swallowed her and gasped for breath, breathing roughly and sharply.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly, still breathing heavily.

"You're in hospital."

"Where?"

"About a mile down the road from the Kurama school."

"How come?"

The nurse sighed.

"Calm down!" she said. "Let me catch my breath before you ask me anything else!"

Kairi blushed and waited, tucking her crimson red, spiked up hair behind her ears.

"You seem to have been in some kind of accident." said the nurse.

"Is there anything wrong with me?" asked Kairi warily.

"You appear to have internal bleeding." she shrugged.

"Wh-what?"

"Calm down!" sighed the nurse. "Now, it's my duty to ask you how you got this accident. Have you been in any fights or anything?"

Kairi swallowed her guilty conscience and shook her head.

"I...uh, I fell over the other day playing...rugby." she lied. The nurse raised an eyebrow.

"Rugby?" she asked.

"Yeah! Totally. It's, uh, my favourite sport!" Kairi beamed. This was a downright lie - she _hated _rugby.

"I wouldn't have expected a girl to play rugby..." muttered the nurse under her breath. Kairi, though, heard it as clearly as if she'd said it aloud.

"G-G-G-GIRL?" she cried. The nurse glanced at her.

"Um, yes..." she said, looking quizically at her.

"I-I-I'm a guy." she stammered. "I go to Kurama High."

"I think I know the difference between a guy and a girl." replied the nurse, cocking an eyebrow. Kairi looked down to see herself wearing a plastic-like, white hospital dressing gown. The nurse must have changed her from her school uniform.

"Y-Y-Y-You!" cried Kairi. "B-B-But...Who else knows?"

"Calm down, just me." she sighed. "Why? Do people think you're a guy?"

"Of course they do!" snapped Kairi.

"Alright, alright! Just calm down!" said the nurse. "Hang on, I'll get you some water."

Kairi swore under her breath and buried herself under the duvet. This was a disaster! Suppose someone had visited and the nurse said she was a girl?

The second the nurse returned with the water, Kairi practically pounced on her.

"DID YOU TELL ANYONE?" she demanded. Almost spilling the water, the nurse set it down beside the bed and faced Kairi.

"Well, I figured there must have been a really serious reason to why you were dressing as a guy, so I decided to keep it a secret." she said, winking. "My name's Emiko. If I were you, I'd do your hair better. It's kind of a giveaway."

Kairi said nothing.

"Well...thanks, Emiko." she said.

"No problem!" she replied cheerfully. "So, what am I meant to call you?"

"Kazu Hideko." Kairi told her.

"Okedoke, Kazu."

Kairi stared at the bed, not replying.

"Uhm..." began Emiko. "Look, I know it's not my place to ask, but...how did you _really_ get those injuries?"

No reply.

"Oh, okay...forget I asked that." she said quickly.

An awkward silence filled the air. Kairi felt uncomfortable talking about how she really got the wounds, because even though she never would, she had the feeling she would blurt out the truth about being an assassin. She desperately wanted to tell someone, but if she did she knew it would be the end of her.

"So...umm...Emiko, has anyone visited?" asked Kairi uncomfortably. 

"Not yet." shrugged Emiko. "I'll expect you'll have some visitors around now, though. Lessons will have ended."

"What day is it?" she asked.

"Same day you passed out." replied Emiko, not even bothering to look at her. Kairi sighed and lay back in bed as the nurse busied herself in the medicine cabinets. Kairi had always hated hospital, especially when she was a little kid. Her grandmother had died from lung cancer when she was four. Then again, she was asking for it, smoking 40 cigarettes a day. That didn't mean Kairi was too young to miss her. Now, on the other hand, she felt no remorse. It made her feel uncomfortable in a way, but then again, what happened was in the past and there was no use getting emotional about it. She was starting to reflect on her distant childhood when there was a tapping on her shoulder. Jumping slightly, she leant over to look at the smiling nurse.

"What did I tell you? Visitors." she beamed.

Peering over Emiko's shoulder, Kairi could see Sora, Roxas, Riku and Tsukasa standing at the door of the small ward. Thankfully, Ryosei was nowhere to be seen.

"Kazu!" cried Tsukasa, running over. "Are you okay? Y-You just collapsed in music..."

"Mirumachi wouldn't even let us come with you in the ambulance." said Riku, sniffing loftily.

"I was in an ambulance?"

"Duh! Did you think Mirumachi'd carry you to hospital? She can barely carry herself with all that weight she's put on." said Sora, grinning. Kairi giggled, grateful that he was trying to cheer her up.

"So...you okay, pal?" asked Roxas. "Y-Yeah." shrugged Kairi.

"As a matter of fact, he's got quite a few internal injuries." piped in Emiko.

Tsukasa looked worried. "Internal injuries?"

"He's got internal bruises, a torn muscle, probably more."

"How'd he get them?"

"I was playing after school rugby and I got wiped out." butted in Kairi. "I'd been a little delirous since and I guess it really got to me."

Tsukasa gave a small 'oh'.

"Will he be okay?" he asked.

"He'll be fine, don't worry." Kairi glanced at Emiko and mouthed a silent 'thank you' at her for referring to her as 'he'. Thank god her secret was still safe...

"Hey," grinned Roxas, nudging Sora. "I think Tsukasa here has the hots for our friend Kazu."

Tsukasa stared at them in disbelief.

"I have a boyfriend." he groaned. "Can't I have friends without being accused of having a crush on them?"

Roxas shrugged and smirked to himself, and Tsukasa muttered something under his breath.

"Kazu, we didn't know what to bring you, so Sora decided we should give you some money." said Riku. "Although I don't know why he didn't pay. The money's from me, so be nice to me and sod him."

Kairi laughed as Riku passed her a $20 bill. She gratefully placed it beside her bed and lay back into the soft pillow.

"What were the teachers saying?" she smirked.

"They were panicking loads." grinned Sora. "Mirumachi's more psycho than ever. She now thinks she's a murderer."

"She could be if I don't stop coughing up blood and choking." groaned Kairi, clearing her sore throat.

"Don't say that!" cried Sora. "No way are you going to die!"

"Breathing trouble?" asked Emiko sharply. Kairi looked at her and nodded.

"Why?"

"It's...oh, never mind." she replied. Kairi raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Ah, I just thought you said something else." said Emiko, shrugging again. Kairi decided to let it slide, and leant back against the pillow, wincing internally as the ache in her chest ate away at her.

"Anyhoopy..." said Tsukasa. "I'll have to go now. I was meant to be meeting Natsu."

"See ya." she beamed, waving faintly at him as she watched him exit the room. She looked back at Riku, Roxas and Sora.

"So..." she said awkwardly. "Um...what do you guys do out of school?"

"I just hang around with these oddballs." said Riku. "Though most of the time Roxas spends his time drooling over Nami."

"Nami?"

"She's Roxas' girlfriend." said Sora, with a tone of mockery to his voice. "Naminé." **(A.N: happy now, Hannah? XD)**

Roxas' face turned crimson.

"So what?" he blushed. "At least I have one."

Sora didn't say anything - just fidgeted uncomfortably and shrugged. Relief washed over Kairi in a subconsious wave. Alarmed and somewhat embarrassed, she pushed the thought to the back of her head and said nothing. All of a sudden, there was a quiet beeping and Emiko walked over in an instant.

"Kazu, the room's free, so you can go for a scan now." she beamed.

"Scan?"

"Yeah, an X-ray."

"Why?"

"Just, y'know, to check up for any fractures."

Kairi glanced at the guys, who shrugged.

"We'll go, then." said Riku, shuffling and running a hand through his long, platinum-coloured hair. "See you around, Kaz."

The other two mumbled their goodbyes and trailed out of the small hospital room. Once they'd left, Kairi looked up at Emiko. Emiko raised an eyebrow as Kairi just lay there.

"Well, come on, Mr.Idle. You're not gonna get there yourself."

Kairi groaned and rolled off the bed to her feet, then stood upright and flicked out her crimson hair with her fingertips. Emiko smiled warmly at her and gestured out of the door, not before walking out there herself. Groaning silently at the thought of the ordeal ahead (she hated hospitals), Kairi sighed and followed the nurse towards the room that would reveal what she was fearing the most.

**(A.N: Yea, I'm a lazy ass, therefore can't be arsed to write the inbetween scene so I'm gonna skip to night. Motto: if you don't have to do something...don't! XD)**

Glancing at the big, white clock on the wall, Kairi sank back into the stiff hospital bed and sighed. Waiting for scan results was no fun task, and it was nearing midnight. Wondering if Emiko was ever going to return that night, Kairi rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow, breathing in the sharp scent of disinfectant that always hung around hospitals and sighing. She kind of missed the school. She never thought she'd grow to like it, but it seemed like home, after just a few days. And the beds were so squishy and soft...

Laughing to herself, she rolled back onto her back and gazed at the ceiling, although the darkness of the night meant that she could barely see it. A cool breeze blew through the open window, and Kairi shivered...and yawned at the same time. She was too tired to close the windows, anyway, and it's not like it would kill her to leave them open. She turned onto her side and yanked the stiff duvet up over her head, drifting in and out of sleep. She didn't drop off, though, just lay there resting, staring at the blank folds of the covers.

A rustling suddenly made her sit bolt upright, curse violently to herself and clutch her side. She didn't know if it was the curtains blowing from the draught the window let in, or if someone was moving. She didn't want to drop her guard - years of assassination taught her not to.

"Emiko...?" she asked quietly. "Sora?"

"Sora?" said a mocking voice suddenly. Kairi's hair stood on end and she looked around the room wildly. "Why would it be Sora?"

"Who are you? Where are you!" she asked sharply, trying to push thoughts of the mysterious assassin out of her head.

"You know who I am, little..._Kairi_."

Kairi froze. Who the hell was this, and how did they know her name?

"This better not be you, Keiko!" she snapped, trying to mask her fear.

"You know it's not her." the voice sneered. Kairi guessed from the pitch that it was a guy.

A dull thudding of heavy footsteps and the rattling of rubbing belt buckles filled the room. Through the darkness, Kairi could just make out a black, leather boot, a gloved hand, two cat-like, emerald eyes and a brief flash of silver steel. The footsteps grew nearer, and a talk figure dressed in a long, black, leather trenchcoat stepped out of the shadows, his long, choppy silver hair covering his face, still managing to show the sinister smirk he wore. His green eyes gleamed with menace and his pupils narrowed to resemble that of a cat's.

"Y...you..." said Kairi, and suddenly remembered the man. "Kadaj!"

The first time she saw him she'd disliked him, and sensed an un-natural presence around him, but now he was beginning to scare her, and she was getting more and more spooked by the second. Kadaj looked at her and smirked, his silver hair hanging over his eyes. He stood perfectly still, then lifted his head up and grinned down at her with a look that made her blood run cold.

"Well, well, look what we have here..." he smirked. Kairi didn't reply.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"Oh, Kairi! You don't think I don't know what's going on in here, you know." he said, looking shocked. "It's not hard to sit by a window and eavesdrop."

"Bastard." she spat. "What do you want?"

"Mind your language." said Kadaj, pacing up and down intimidatingly. "If I'm not mistaken...you are an assassin...am I correct?"

Kairi shot the man a death glare and said nothing. Kadaj grinned icily again.

"I thought so!" he said, laughing. "So why are you trying to hide that from us? Are you afraid?"

"Who the hell is 'us'?" she asked, getting more and more agitated by the second.

"My brothers and I." he smirked.

"What are you ON about?" she asked, shuffling back against the headboard of the bed.

"Maybe..." he grinned, setting down the threatening double-bladed sword he was holding. "...this will help you."

Kadaj held up an arm and some sort of pale blue light spiralled upwards, before engulfing him in a shimmering light. She could still make out his wild eyes and menacing grin beneath it, yet what was to come next surprised her the most. The light faded, and then beams of pure, white light shot out of his back and wrapped around his body. Slowly, but surely, they began to materialise, into a large pair of delicate, slim, feathered, silver wings.

Kairi felt the blood drain from her face as, ignoring the pain, she scrambled back against the bed.

"Y-You!" she cried, as a feather drifted through the air.

"Not quite," he smirked, folding the wings triumphantly at his body. "The person you encountered before was one of my brothers."

"What do you mean?" stammered Kairi, his words making absolutely no sense to her whatsoever.

"You have so many questions!" cried Kadaj in outrage. "Just pipe down for once, and then we can end this!"

Kairi was taken aback from his change in behaviour. Just a second ago he was sinister, calm and collected, but now he seemed to be acting more aggressive. She kept eyeing his long sword nervously, which was propped against her bed. Kadaj caught the young assassin's eye and turned to her.

"Saw Souba, did you?" he grinned. "I would have thought you'd be more interested in..._this_."

Kadaj reached into the other scabbard on his belt and unsheathed a horribly familiar sword.

"NO!" yelped Kairi suddenly. "What the hell!"

Kadaj held the sword up to the light, and the dim moonlight reflected magnificently on the sword's blade. Ikioi-kujiku's blade.

Kadaj laughed as he watched the look of horror cross Kairi's face. She felt disgusted and terrified.

"You should have made a better attempt to hide that thing." he grinned. "After all, I am in charge of room inspection."

Kairi felt sick. Why couldn't she have hidden it somewhere better than underneath her bed?

"Who else knows about this?" she growled.

"Just me, little Kairi." he laughed. "I haven't told my brother...yet."

"Yazoo..." she said quietly to herself, remembering the person Kadaj referred to in her room.

**THIS FANFICTION HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED**

**Yea I know it's dumb to stop it in the middle, but I decided ages ago to stop this 'fic and I don't have enough time to finish the chapter. I seriously doubt I'll finish it as I plan to write a new fanfic with a decent, less tacky, more original idea. Feedback and ideas for the new fic would be nice. Drop me a line at http/nusubito. and if you wish you can ask for my MSN address. Fanfiction ideas would be most appreciated and I apologise for any inconvienience caused by the stopping of this fic. :3**

**The reason I'm stopping is:  
- Bad storyline  
- Too many own characters, could be confusing for some  
- Unoriginal plot  
- The characters are, well...out of character '  
- I think the storyline is too tacky**

**Do you agree with this? Do you disagree? Like i said: tell me all on my deviantart account, or I can give you my MSN address if that would be easier.**

**Love from nusubito :3  
**


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